Equal Footing
by PinataRock
Summary: Growing up is always a pain. But when an acciendent with part of Time Eater's core makes Tails the same age Sonic, both the hedgehog and fox find out just how hard it is.
1. No Messing with Time

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 1: No Messing with Time**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Any visitor to the Mystic Ruins would most likely go for a chance to escape the nearby metropolis, Station Square or maybe to see the ruins of the ancient echidna civilisation if they're that way inclined. Of course other would go to lay eyes upon the brown house with the several machinations on the hill, just off the cliff, near the train station. It's odd to have famous people live so far away from everything put then again the two celebrities didn't exactly see themselves that way, just an inseparable pair doing their part to keep the world safe. Of course their part of that task was stooping the mechanical mad man Dr. Eggman from taking over the world they are going to get some media coverage. Sure, they're various different people who also fight the good fight but these two have been doing it the longest. The names Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles 'Tails' Prower are often mentioned at least once in every household. With their fame they would be welcomed to live anywhere but instead they settles down here, out in the country in Tails' Workshop.

Unlike most days thought, the Mobian who the workshop is named after is absent and the blue blur is the one coup up inside the house. As the names suggest, Sonic is a Mobian hedgehog with blue fur but peach arms, belly and muzzle. Like most male Mobians he didn't wear much: just a pair of gloves, some socks and his famed red sneakers with a white strap and buckle. The hedgehog hit fame by using his ability to run and the speed of sound and curl up into a ball to thwart the egg shaped human's first takeover attempt. Of course he wasn't doing a lot of running right now.

Currently the hedgehog's green eyes were closed and covered by a book that he had been promising himself he would finish, a book called "Sonic and the Black Knight". He knew what happened, he lived it and changed the books contents and title from what it was originally, "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". That was an odd adventure put he thought he had at least read it once as he did with another book he was sent into, "Sonic the Secret Rings". However while reading it on the couch he had fallen asleep, his quills hanging over the armrest while the two quills on his back and tail were poking into the couch. Thankfully his genius sidekick and best friend Tails had made ever piece of furniture they had hedgehog-proof. He didn't understand and didn't really need to.

The only reason he was reading instead of running was because Tails, an orange Mobian fox with two tails (hence his nickname), white fur on his belly and end of his tails, blue eyes, three long bangs of hair on his forehead, gloves, socks and his own half red and half white sneakers, said that he had picked up something odd on one of his devices and wanted to check it but wanted Sonic nearby just in case something happened. As it was for reassurance the hedgehog had agreed but ended up regretting it.

The door flew open and the fox burst in, excited about something. "Sonic! Sonic where are you?"

This woke up the once slumbering hedgehog, causing him to jump off the sofa and hit the floor. "Ow, right on the tail" he muttered to himself. The fox came dashing over to him, keeping his hand cupped together.

"Sorry Sonic, I didn't know you were sleeping" he apologised.

"No worries, the hedgehog said while getting up. "It's about time I woke up. That book really thick though."

"Why are still trying to read it then?" The fox had heard about Sonic's storybook adventures but was in two minds about whether or not they were some chilidog inspired dreams. But if his big brother said they were true with a straight face then he was also inclined to believe him.

"I feel like I should" he replied casually, putting the book back on the shelf. "What's gotten you so shouty?"

"These." The fox opened his hand to show some thick black and purple shards of something.

Sonic was still no nearer to knowing what the big fuss is. "Before I ask what these are you do know not to play with glass right?"

The kit half closed his eyes looking unimpressed; he wasn't taking him seriously again. "Yeah, since I was fine. Let me just put these down" he said heading into the kitchen before shouting. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you wash the dishes?"

"Because I cooked today, remember?" They had chilidogs, his favourite food and one of the fox's favourites as well. "It'll be unfair if I had to cook and clean."

Tails sighed. "Yeah yeah, I know. I'll do it after this" he moaned as he got a clean plate out of the cupboard and put the shards on a clean plate.

"Might as well do it now" Sonic said crossing his arms. "You're going to have to tell me what these are so it makes sense." He couldn't but smile at the fox's miffed look.

"Fine" he said begrudgingly as he took off his gloves. "It does make sense; you must be getting better at that."

"At what?"

"Making sense" he said with a smirk as he started the dishes.

"Ha ha" the older Mobian said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He started examining his little brother's find. "So smart guy, what are these? You break something?"

"No, you did."

The confused the hedgehog. "What?"

It was Tails' turn to smile. "Those are shards of Time Eater's core."

Sonic's eyes widen. "Really? How'd they get here? Shouldn't they be stuck in the centre of time?"

Time Eater was a robot that was at the heart of Eggman's latest plan. That machine had the ability to erase time and space, leaving it white and lifeless, and it needed two people to pilot it. So the doctor recruited his past self to help him who agreed. The mad men unveiled their creation at Sonic's birthday party where they sent all of the party guest to that white world where they were frozen in time until he and his past self saved them. Everything went back to normal when the Sonics used the Chaos Emerald to turn into Super Sonic and defeat Time Eater in the centre of time by destroying its core, hence the confusion.

"That's what I thought" the fox replied, drying his hands (there are only two plates for two people after all) and putting his gloves back on. "I was surprised when my emerald detector picked up a sign in the jungle."

The hedgehog put his hand on his chin, his thinking face as the pair called it. "Question, why would your emerald detector detect the shards?"

The kit shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure but I can only guess it's the same reason Time Eater reacted badly to the Chaos Emeralds. I am intrigued as to how it worked so I hope to analyse these."

"Don't let me stop you but what would you do with that? Make a time machine of something?"

Tails put on his thinking face while putting the plates away. "Tempting but no. No good ever comes from travelling to the past, like what happened on your birthday and all those sci-fi films."

The hedgehog nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. Although why does that make me think of that city on fire we came across?" Using Time Eater, Eggman and his past self brought several locations from his past into the white world but there was one nobody knew.

"Crisis City?" Tails asked, a little perplexed. Both of them felt like they had been there before and that there was something odd about those flames. Some of their friends felt a similar connection: his friendly rival Knuckles the Echidna, his less friendly rival Shadow the Hedgehog, the alluring spy Rouge the Bat and the time traveller Silver the Hedgehog who felt a stronger connection than the rest. Then there was Blaze the Cat, otherworldly princess and Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, she actually knew the name of that place and the only reason they knew the name. She knew something about that place but any attempt to get more information out her were futile, she's very good at hiding things.

Sonic clicked his fingers in front of his unresponsive face, causing him to jump a little. The kit had a habit of being lost in thought so the hedgehog graciously took the job of snapping him out of it especially if it was during a conversation with him, waiting for his next sentence was not his style. "You were saying?" he said.

"Sorry" the fox apologised, putting one hand behind his head. "I have no idea."

Sonic sighed. "_All that waiting for him to think wasted_" he thought. The fox was already holding the plate with the shards and heading towards his lab in the basement.

"Hey Tails, before you disappear into your lair for hours can ask you something?"

The fox stopped. "Anything in the past you'd want to see again?"

Tails thought about for a few seconds. "Maybe but some areas of the past are better left in the past. Now the future, that's what I'd like to see. You?"

Despite his little brother's answer reminding him of a certain ultimate life form, the hedgehog answered instantly. "A few things but I'm happy in the present."

He smiled which was met by one of the fox's own. "Well, you know where I am if you need me." As he closed the door and descended down the stairs Tails found himself lost in his thoughts once again.

"_I know he did cook but I went out, so why couldn't he wash up. He uses them too. It's unfair but he is the older brother and I don't want that job again anytime soon. Can't live with him, can't live without him. Oh well, at least I have something to work on now, until he makes dinner. I doubt he'll need me before then, he never does."_ He smiled a little as he reached the worktop. "_Okay, let's see what you're made of_."

It had been several hours since Tails started his experiments and so far he hadn't deciphered much of the mystery. "_This is going to be difficult. The only thing I've found id that whoever created this before Eggman found it can't be from this world. Or time even._" While wondering his next move his ended up being drawn towards the cockpit of the Tornado 2, where the light blue Chaos Emerald was currently residing. Finding it had been a stroke of luck; Sonic had found it Apotos during one of his runs and given it to Tails as the Tornado 2 needs a Chaos Emerald to reach its full potential.

He remembered back in that white world, the red Chaos Emerald was also frozen in time and was suspended in the area that turned out to be Planet Wisp. Before Sonic and his past self could restore it to its glory, its power repelled Time Eater which caused four of them to agree to collect the Chaos Emeralds. "_I wonder if I could get a reaction out of the shards with the emerald._" Spinning his namesakes the fox took to the air and removed the gem from the console before returning to where he just was."_If I put the emerald near the shards I should be able to get some kind of reaction which I can gauge. Perhaps this will give me the clue I need to continue_". He set a few devices in order to see what kind of reaction he would get before he set the gem near the shards.

As the two factors started to glow, the fox decided to move them closer, making them glow brighter. After a couple of minutes of the Tails boldly decided to place them right next to each other. As he did they started to glow brighter until a surge of chaos and time energy ended flowing into him. He wasn't as in tune to chaos as people who regularly used the emeralds, like Sonic, Shadow and Silver. In fact he needed the Super Emeralds in order to go super. So there was nothing he could do as it pulsed in his body. In his scrambled thoughts, the only one he could really make out was "_This wasn't my best idea_".

* * *

><p>Sonic's mental debate on what to have for dinner that wasn't chilidogs was interrupted as he sensed chaos energy, but something was wrong with it. Having used the emeralds so many times allowed him to sense large amounts of chaos energy, it wasn't on par with more chaos sensitive being like Knuckles and Shadow but saying that he wasn't born of alien blood or spends his life watching a giant rock it wasn't bad. "<em>But the only source of chaos energy around here is that Chaos Emerald I found the other day and that's in the lab with...<em>"

He then remembered that Eggman's time erasing monstrosity didn't mix well with the emeralds. His blood froze. "Tails" he said quickly and quietly before he dashed down the stairs into the fox's lair. "Tails!" he shouted only to find streams of energy everywhere. It looked like blue lightening and a large amount of it was following into his beloved brother!

"Tails!" he shouted using his famed speed to reach his side in an instant. He reached out to grab the fox and pull him out of harm's way only to receive a little zap for his efforts. "Ow" he moaned a little, shaking it off, he'd been though worse. With his brain now working as fast as his feet Sonic deduced that this was caused by having the emerald and the shards of Time Eater's core too close together and that the solution to the problem was to separate them. Quickly grabbing the powerful gem the hedgehog dashed up stairs and threw it in the closet before running back down the stairs to check on his friend.

Said friend was currently lying on his belly on the metallic floor of the lab, unconscious and not moving. "Tails!" he cried out again before he reached his side a split second later, flipping the younger Mobian on his back. Seeing that his stomach was breathing, the hedgehog breathed a deep sigh of relieve. "Don't scare me like that bro" he said quietly to himself.

Before he even could react the fox started to grow, shocking Sonic. Not just size but age as well. His little brother grew to a size that was similar to his own with his attire, tails and bangs of his hair growing as well. The kit's fur also became a tone darker, becoming somewhere between brown and orange. In fact if the speedster had to pick an age he would say something around his own.

"What the?" he gasped, his eyes wide and mouth wide open. "What just happened? How?" His gaze was averted to the shards of Time Eater's core. "Eggman" he hissed before deciding that the floor was no place for his best bud.

Hooking his arm around the once-kit's body he started to take Tails to his bed. "_You've put on some weight since the last time I did this_" he thought before saying, "You need to wake up soon and figure this out. That's your department, not mine."


	2. Older and Wiser?

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 2: Older and Wiser?**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Tails groggily woke up with a headache and some confusion as to how he got into his room. "_What happened?_" he thought. "_Hadn't I already woken up today? I swear I did, the sun not in the right place for it to be to be morning_." Then it came back to the fox. "The shards and the Chaos Emerald" he exclaimed before he clamped his hands over his mouth in shock. "_That's not my voice, it way too deep_."

Now that he thought about the room did seem smaller, and his feet were closer to the end of the bed than usual (Tails had made the bed big enough for both his tails and so that he wouldn't need another for a long time, Sonic's bed being the same). Now panicking, Tails threw off only to find that his body was not what he remembered it to be. It was longer, bigger and a darker shade of orange than before. Looking over the bed he found his shoes were also bigger, although everything else was the same about them.

Quickly slipping them on, while trying to keep his panic that they fit to a minimum, Tails scrambled to the mirror so he could have a better look at himself. He almost didn't recognise his reflection, he looked about double his real age. At this point the fox lost it all together. "What on Mobius happened to me?" he screamed. He felt a gust of wind on his, coming from the door which blew open. Having lived with him so long Tails recognised it as his best friend running.

"Tails, everything okay?" Sonic said as he burst in.

"No, everything is not okay" the once younger Mobian snapped back. "Look at me!"

"Oh, I thought you were being attacked or something" the hedgehog said as he relaxed. This did nothing to help the fox's mood.

"This isn't important?" he asked, still panicked over this sudden turn of events.

"Of course it is lit..." The speedster caught himself mid-sentence, he'd been so calling him his little bro that this had thrown him though a few loops, although he normally do that anyway. "I mean bro, I just thought that something else had happened." He smiled weakly but genuinely. "I'm just glad that you're alright."

The fox calmed down a little a seeing this. "That depends on your definition of alright. Sonic, what happened to me?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, you're the genius. Best I can say is that you aged and I blame Eggman for ever making that Time Eater."

"And here I thought it would be a stupid question" Tails said to himself, causing the hedgehog to give him a "don't give me that" look. It took the genius a second before he realised what he had said. "Ah, I'm sorry Sonic. I didn't mean it, you actually made a good point about Time Eater's core being the cause of this."

The hedgehog's expression didn't change. "Actually?"

The fox winced a little more. "I didn't mean it, you make good points all the time."

Sonic sighed. "You feeling okay? I'm used to you ribbing me but how you said that, it sounded more sarcastic than I'm used to."

This worried the orange Mobian a little. "I know and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it just slipped out."

"Don't worry about it" the hedgehog said reassuringly. "I'm not offended and it likely it's just you being a teen."

"It is?"

"Yeah, did you think I was always like this."

"Yeah."

Sonic put on his bored look again. "Well, I wasn't always like this. I was once a sweet, cool little 'hog."

"Sonic I know you weren't like that" Tails moaned. Neither of them were fans of their lives pre-Eggman, being an orphan is not a really a walk in the park so they made a no-prying rule. Neither of them needed to answer any questions that made them uncomfortable although that didn't stop them from wondering how the others were like. Past wise, Tails was in the lead as he got to experience living with young Sonic after making a wish to be the big brother and he was far from mild mannered. In Sonic's recollection of that event he was very sentimental, good thing that only he and Tails remembered that or else his reputation would have been ruined.

The hedgehog put his hands out in front of him. "Okay, so I wasn't but everyone rebels a bit at this age. Just thought I would be older by the time you went through this faze."

"That reminds me, I don't even know what age I am exactly" the fox said. "Good thing I have a machine to tell me."

"Tails, you aren't competing with fictional characters again are you? I swear I saw a machine like that on a show."

"That's where I got the idea from" Tails replied as he started to dash to the lab. As he got to the door thought, he stopped and turned towards his brother. "You know what the oddest thing is though, that we're on the same eye level. I don't have to look up to you anymore." With that he continued his journey, but missed the distraught look on Sonic's face as he said that.

Sonic had a high pain threshold as it helped when saving the world. He'd fallen on his head from high distances twice and walked it off and took a beating from the Dark Queen and was still able to defeat her despite Caliburn claiming he did most of the work. But this was a pain he couldn't shrug off so easily, his little brother had basically stabbed him in the heart by saying that he need to look up to him anymore. It was a nightmare come true come true for him, he thought he had more time before this happened.

He rubbed his eyes. "_No, that's not what he meant and you know it. He meant about that since we're the same size he doesn't need to tilt his head to see mine, that's all. He's not ready to live without me yet, he may look like a teenager but he's really just my little bro still_." He sighed as he made his way to the lab, taking his time to calm down so that Tails doesn't realise how hurt he was by his turn of phrase. "_I knew this was going to happen someday, but never today. I expected me to be at least twenty when this happened, not the same age as him. Looking after someone who is seven years younger than me is one thing but now. He's the more responsible one, he may take my job_."

He stopped at the end of the first set of stairs and reached the ground floor as an unsettling thought entered his head. "_What if, by some cruel twist of fate, that he's now older than me? Oh no, that would end up making me the rebellious younger brother as there's no way I'm letting him end my freedom... in that way._" The last bit of his thought was quickly added as the speedster remembered that years ago his freedom to be away from Tails for long periods of time ended when they started travelling together. That was different though, he could keep the kid safe. "_And what, Tails hasn't been doing the same for us_?" his mind snapped back.

Just as was about to head down to the basement Tails ran back up to the ground floor having finished his tests. "There you are Sonic, what took you so long? I'm finished now" he wondered, the only time his best friend took it slow in a time like this was when there was something heavy on his mind. The fox could read his best friends movements and reactions like a book, if his face wouldn't show how Sonic is feeling his body would.

He help back a smug 'I know it' look as Sonic answered. "I was thinking about something." He rubbed the back of his head as he said it so that meant that he was uncomfortable to speak about it.

"Don't think too much, you'll get brain cramp."

The hedgehog smirked a little at this. "Have you been stealing Knuckles' joke book?" he retorted.

It was the orange Mobian's time to grin. "Yours' actually."

Sonic chuckled a little. Nothing like a few light ribs between friends to make him feel better. "Not bad bro, we might made a joker out of you yet" he said as he reached out his right hand to rustle the fox's head like he normally did, but since Tails was taller it took longer than usual to reach his head only for the fox to knock it away before he even got close.

"Sonic, I'm trying to tell you something important and you're not taking me seriously" the mechanic lectured. "I'm not a little kid."

And the pain in the hedgehog's heart was back again. He sighed sadly. "I know Tails, I know."

The fox relented, his posture slumping. "I mean for now or at least not as little a kid as what I was..." he ended up tailing off.

The same thought shot through both of the brother's heads. "_This isn't going to be easy_" before they both sighed and wondered out loud "Is this how younger me felt around me?" This caused them to stare at each other before they both shouted "Jinx!" before they both let out a laugh.

Sonic spoke first. "I'm sorry Tails, I know you're being serious and no matter what age you are you have by absolute trust, kid or not."

Tails replied almost instantly. "I'm sorry I'm so snappy today. I'm not used to it and I know you are but something tells me to take these things further than what they need to go."

"Like I said you're getting, or gotten, older now and your body will, or has, undergone some changes..." the hedgehog started, putting one hand behind his and looking away from his charge whose face turned red.

"Sonic!" he exclaimed. "I know this already. I researched what happens so that I could be ready for it but this all happen so fast and all at once. Can we please change the topic back to what we're supposed to be talking about?"

"Yeah, course, good idea" he said quickly, thankful that he dodged a very uncomfortable discussion before regaining his normal composure. "Speaking of getting older, how old are you now?" It's not a situation he would have dreamed he would end up in but this he was genuinely interested in.

Tails however hesitated in revealing the answer to the speedster's question. "Well, about that..."

Sonic's face fell and he put his face in his right palm. "No, you're older than me aren't you?" he moaned.

Not even the fox expected that assumption. "No, you're not..." He didn't get far before he was cut off by a more elated hedgehog who had taken his head out of his hand.

"Then I'm still the older brother."

"Not exactly, no..."

This had the blue Mobian stumped. "You can't answer no to both questions Tails; it's either one or the other."

"Or we could be the same age" the fox chimed in, not saying anything to allow the news to sink in.

"So we're both sixteen then that means that I'm still older as it hasn't been your birthday yet" he concluded.

Tails had a bored look on his face. "That doesn't make sense! Also I would have finished if you'd stop interrupting me. May I?" Sonic said nothing but nodded and made a motion which represented zipping his mouth up. "Thank you. My machine can also give an estimated birth date alongside an age but I thought it was malfunctioning at first as the estimated birthday it gave me wasn't mine, but yours."

Sonic started to get worried after hearing this though, his expression saying it all. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we're the exact same age" the fox explained. "No big brother or little brother, just equal."

"Kinda like twins with different parents" the once older Mobian asked, finally understanding the situation at hand. The kid-turned-teen nodded at his statement. "How did this happen? You don't normally switch the date you were born."

The genius of the pair put his hand to his chin. "I have a theory but I need to know how you stopped the reaction between the Chaos Emerald and the pieces of Time Eater's core."

"I pick up the emerald and chucked it in the closet, in fact..." he stopped speaking and zipped over to said closet and after rooting through it for a couple of seconds found the gem. "If I didn't find it now we would only forget where we put it later."

The fox nodded his head in agreement. "True." His face hardened as he once again turned his attention to more serious matters. "Is moving the Chaos Emerald the only thing you did? You didn't touch me during that time did you?"

The hedgehog thought about it for a second. "Well, I did try to get you out of harm's way first but the only thing I got was a shock."

"That explains it" Tails said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I now know what happened to cause this."

"That's good. Care to fill me in?"

"Sure but I think we should sit for this" the fox suggested. Sonic recognised this as a sign for 'this is going to be long and/or technical explanation.' The pair plonked themselves on the couch.

Tails looked deep in thought and wasn't talking which annoyed the hedgehog as he wanted to know what happened to his little, no his brother. "Tails, Tails!" he said, a little miffed. The distant look in the mechanic's eyes disappeared showing that he was back out of his head. "So..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, sorry about that but I just figured out how Time Eater works" the fox explained. "This makes it easier to explain how I became this. Time Eater manipulates and destroys chrono particles or time energy."

"Is that how it pulled us, our friends, all those places from the past and our past selves into that white limbo?"

"That's how the white world was created in the first place, by the Eggmen pulling time and space apart. However when it comes into a power that is ageless like Chaos energy it doesn't know what to and reacts badly to it, causing it to either be repelled by it or forces it to discharge which is what it did here. It discharged its energy into me, making my aging process unstable. When you touched me it imprinted your age on me so that made me not just the same age but the exact same age. It's as if me and you were born on the exact same time of the exact same day."

It was a lot to take in but the hedgehog did appreciate Tails making his explanation understandable, something that he had become a lot better at recently. However Sonic could be quite sharp when he wanted to be so he picked up on something that his brother had said at the beginning of his monologue. "You just figured out that contraption worked? What about before when you were in your lab."

"I was stuck, that technology was very advanced but now it seems so simple. Perhaps my cranial capacity has been increased as I got older, maybe my muscles too."

"Pretty fancy way of saying getting older made you smarter and maybe stronger."

This made Tails grin. "It must be true; when we first met you wouldn't have a clue what I just said. Must be rubbing off on you."

The hedgehog grinned back. "Well, when we first back you never would have said it like that in at all. You know, maybe I should take advantage of this to give you the talk so I don't have to do it later."

The confused the genius. "What talk? There's more than the one you almost gave earlier."

Sonic had been joking when he had suggested it but if the fox really wanted to know. "The birds and the bees of course. When a man and a woman love..."

"Stop stop stop!" Tails burst out, his face going as red as his friend's shoes. "Some things you can't rush and you are in no position to tell me anything about that, Mr. Keeps-running–away-from-the-only-girl-interested."

"Guess I had that coming. Now, can you get back to how you should be?"

"That's easy, we just repeat the experiment only instead of you touching me I get poked by a piece of my fur" the fox explained.

The hedgehog tilted his head sideways in confusion. "If I understand correctly, which is a big if, that wouldn't do anything."

Tails face palmed. His brother can be clueless at times, why does it take Armageddon for him to be serious. "I meant a piece of my fur from back when I was eight."

"You mean this morning?" Sonic said jokingly before he shot up onto his feet. "Let's get to it." However his best friend didn't look like he agreed with his sentiment as he averted his gaze to his feet and started fiddling with one of his tails, a habit he always had when he was nervous.

"Actually, that's something I wanted to talk to you about..."

The speedster sat back down on the couch. "What's up? You know you can tell me anything."

Before the mechanic could start the TV remote had been knock of the sofa as Sonic sat down which turned the TV on. A woman with red hair and an orange formal jacket was on with a building in the background that both Mobians recognised as Station Square Station.

"I'm Scarlett Garcia with an emergency broadcast. I'm here in Station Square where Dr. Eggman is currently attacking with a horde of robots resembling himself. G.U.N. has positioned troops in the city lead by Shadow the Hedgehog but there is still no sign of Sonic the Hedgehog."

"_There's no sign of me either but they don't mention that on the news_" Tails mentally complained about. He adored the hedgehog but sometimes it's annoying to have all your hard work over shadowed by him.

He snapped out of his complaint when a scream came from the TV as a robot that did indeed look a lot like the scientist attack Scarlett only it to destroyed by red and yellow hammer. The camera backed up to reveal the one wielding it, a pink Mobian hedgehog with green eyes whose quills were pointed down making it resemble hair. She wore a red dress, red boots with a white stripe down the middle. At the cuffs of her gloves were two gold bracelets. This was one of brother's closes friends, Amy Rose.

"You should get out of here leave this to the professionals" she said to the human as she dashed off and the feed cut.

"Whatever it is you wanted to talk about has to wait" Sonic said, his voice sounding serious and determined before he put on a confident grin. "Time to do our day job Tails."

The fox nodded. "Right." Before anyone could blink the pair were already out the door and dashing towards the city. As they did Tails was thinking as always. "_This could work out well for me. This is a good chance for me to show Sonic that can do more like this so when I tell him I want to stay like this he may actually let me._"

He looked at the hedgehog in front of him and a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "_Not like I have to do everything he says now_."


	3. With Friends like these

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 3: With Friends like these...**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

The people of Station Square were lucky to live there. How many urban metropolises are located next to a picturesque beach and a large expanse of wilderness for when they wanted to escape the city for a day? It was one of the things that drew Amy Rose to settle down here, so that she could be surrounded by the shops and know that if she ever wanted some fresh air it was just a train ride away. The fact that it was close to the Mystic Ruin was another main reason as she was the perfect distance from her beloved Sonic.

She couldn't live too close as that may put him off if he saw her all the time, but if she lived too far then it would be a hassle to reach him so this was ideal. After she met Cream it became even more ideal as her house was just a decent walk out of the city. But of course they were some drawbacks to living in Station Square, mainly in the form of Dr. Eggman. Ever since his plan to blow it up failed due to faulty wiring and Tails the human had grown a dislike of the city which he claims that he should have already conquered. After it was destroyed by Perfect Chaos the doctor had tried to take it over as a way to pass the time between schemes but to no avail.

However, the design of robots he was using today had taken her back. Like their creator, they were egg shaped and had really thin arms and legs with metal shoes and gloves to boot. The main body was painted red with two yellow stripes which looked like the ends of a cape at the top, the bottom was all black which made the hedgehog think of Eggman back at the beginning who see never expected to see again but did at the Centre of Time. The top was not painted but had two red eye pieces. In their right hand was a laser gun and on their back was a jet pack. These were EggRobos, an old robot model that she had only seen twice before. The first was years ago during a racing tournament that she a participant in. Back then she wasn't nearly as fast as she is now so she had to use a car. The second was much more recently; when time had collapsed she decided to prove to the younger version of Sonic that she could look after herself by challenging him to a race at Sky Sanctuary. She saw some in the background around the Death Egg.

"_But why was he using them now, they're outdated_" Amy thought as she brought her Piko Piko Hammer down on one of the robots, crushing it and rendering it ineffective. She was standing in front of Station Square train station where any civilians in the area are currently being protected by G.U.N troops. The Guardian Unit of Nations were posted throughout the city in case the attack spread from the coast but right now they were escorting people who were outside at the time.

Her gaze turned to the water's edge where the mastermind was currently sitting in his hover chair. He was the same as ever: bold head with worker's goggles on them, dark glasses over his eyes, overgrown nose, big orange moustache, red jacket, white gloves black pants and matching boots with heels. He looked bored, properly wondering the same thing she was. "_Where is Sonic? I know punctuality isn't his strong suit but this isn't like him. Did something else happen?_"

* * *

><p>Said hedgehog was currently dashing towards the city as fast as he could. If it was any later in the day he would already be there as he could take the train line, it's the most direct route to Station Square but he didn't go on it when the trains were running as it was dangerous. He's a national hero and a big brother, setting a good example was very important to him.<p>

Well, former big brother. He glanced at Tails who was currently his age. Sonic had watched the fox grow into kind hearted genius he is today and even if his own future was in limbo he always wondered what kind of person his buddy would turn out to be, but not this quickly. The effects of the forced age increase were already becoming apparent with the fox's persistence to turn minor things into major things, that he could live with even it did annoy him but this kind of made him feel unnerved. The fox neck and neck with him and he was going at his top speed that didn't waste his energy, sure he was used to Tails keeping up with him but not having to actually try to beat him.

"Surely you're not struggling Sonic" Tails said, ribbing him. Being as close as they have been for so long the pair could sometimes tell what the other was thinking. Normally the hedgehog would come up with a quip without missing a beat but the whole situation did not sit well with him. Although he didn't know what was up with the speedster the fox could tell that something was wrong with his bro. "Are you okay Sonic? You don't seem yourself."

"That's funny, neither do you" he said with a forced smile.

It wasn't fooling anyone. "Sonic, what's wrong? I'll understand."

"I'm fine Tails, really. Or I will be once we turn whatever death trap Eggman's made into scrap metal."

"Okay, if you say so" Tails replied, the uncertainty clear in his voice. "_He's still treating me like a kid when I haven't been for a while now. Why can't he trust me with anything besides machines? Well, he's going to have to get used to not having the age advantage over me anymore._"

Sonic's own thought were equally grim. "_Sorry Tails but this is complicated, I'm not one hundred percent sure if anyone could really understand. Plus you wouldn't want to talk about you like you weren't there, I know I wouldn't_." The city's skyline was quickly coming into view, its shadows starting to loom over the pair. "_Let's just get this over with so you can get back to normal and I don't have to think about this again until I'm twenty three_."

* * *

><p>Amy's temper was quite legendary among her friends and although she only resorted to blows with people who she knew could take it, mainly Sonic and Knuckles, with robots she smashed what she could and the EggRobos were defiantly within her destroying capabilities. The problem was that there was so many. Just as she left a hole in one with her hammer, another one was preparing to fire right behind her but this one was also destroyed, this time by a little blue creature with a little yellow blob floating above his head. This was a chao and since this one was wearing a red bow tie Amy instantly knew that this chao was Cheese which meant that his owner was very close by.<p>

"Are you alright Amy?" a young voice said from above. The pink hedgehog looked up to find a Mobian rabbit with cream fur and brown eyes. She wore an orange dress with a blue duel flap tie, a pair of white gloves and orange and yellow shoes. This was Amy's best friend Cream the Rabbit, who was flapping her long ears like wings allowing her to remain in the air.

"I'm fine Cream" the older Mobian reassured her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm okay, so is Cheese, right Cheese?" "Chao" the little chao chirped happily. "Is Mister Sonic still not here?"

"No, Tails neither." Whatever Amy was going to say next would be put on hold as an all black variant of the EggRobo launched a missile at them. "Get down" she screamed as she grabbed the rabbit and chao and forced them on to the ground, narrowly missing the explosion. When they got up though they found themselves surrounded by robots, each one targeting them.

"Sonic" the girls cried out, hoping that their blue hero would arrive. However before anything could happen a small blue flash appeared and out came a hedgehog who looked like Sonic but had black fur, red eyes and a tuff of white hair on his chest. Unlike Sonic, his quills pointed upwards and had a red stripe on all of them. There was a similar red stripe on his arms and legs. His gloves and shoes had a small crimson cuff on them. His shoes were mostly white with a red rim but on their soles were several holes that allowed small flares to shoot out, allowing the figure to hover. This individual was Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form and current G.U.N. commando.

Shadow punched the robot, putting it out of commission before he was surrounded by blue energy again and teleported in front of the next enemy kicking it. The hedgehog repeated this for all the surrounding robots, taking them out in a blink of an eye before he said the words "Chaos Spear" and formed a yellow spear of energy in his right hand before he threw it at the robot that fired the missile who was preparing to fire another. The Chaos Spear hit the missile before it could be launched; causing an explosion that destroyed the robot.

"Thank you Mister Shadow" Cream said, bowing as she did. Cheese mirrored her actions.

"Thanks Shadow. I was hoping Sonic would do that but you did well to" Amy said.

"Amy!" the rabbit cried out. Having been raised to always remember her manners Cream often found herself reminding her best friend of her manners despite the hedgehog having excellent manners herself, but when angry they tended to out the window.

The black hedgehog didn't pay it any heed. "You need to be careful, especially since the only reason I made it in time was because he showed up." He tilted his head to the street behind the trio, where a slew of EggRobos were being thrown into a wall which eventually was brought down when a red blur smashed into them.

Amy put her hand on her face. "Why can't he destroy the robots without damaging the city?" she moaned.

Stepping out of the hole was a red Mobian whose species was an echidna. He had red fur with a patch of white fur in a crescent shape at the top of his chest and purple eyes. He had long dreadlocks and his gloves were like mittens with two spikes on each of his gloves' knuckles. His shoes were yellow and green and had an odd locking mechanism with resembled the top of a Lego block. This was Knuckles the Echidna, the Guardian of Angel Island and protector of the Master Emerald. To see him off his island voluntarily was a very rare sight indeed.

As Knuckles used his tremendous strength to tear through the EggRobos in his path, the youngest Mobian present made an observation. "Doesn't Mister Knuckles look madder than usual?"

Amy thought about it for a second. "I think you're right Cream. I've never seen Knuckles this mad or this reckless."

One of the robots was sent flying towards the girls but Shadow moved quickly and kicked it up into the air, allowing the echidna to jump up to smash it to pieces before he landed next to them. "Knuckles that almost hit us" Amy shouted at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Think before you act" Shadow said sternly, crossing his arms. "It's the tax payer's money that will be used to repair the damage."

Usually Knuckles would state that there are no taxes on Angel Island as he is the sole inhabitant but he didn't today. The Guardian was far from a calm person but he hasn't been so unreasonably angry for a long time. "I hate these things" he said with a growl. "Bad memories."

The memories that he was referring were back when he was a more neutral party in the 'war' against Eggman. Just after he realised that the human had tricked him in order to get close to the Master Emerald and Sonic had just brought down the Death Egg the second time, Knuckles had decided to leave the task of chasing Eggman off his island to Sonic and Tails. However his relaxation was interrupted by an EggRobo which attacked him out of the blue and threatened the island. This also turned out to be ruse to lead him away from the powerful jewel long enough for Mecha Sonic to steal it and use its energy to power himself up. He defeated the robot and saved the island but he had become a more active participant in the battle since.

"Eggman, why bring these things back" he roared at the would-be dictator who was watching the assembled heroes from the safety of his hover chair. "What's next, Mecha Sonic?"

Eggman put his hand on his chin. "Now there's a thought... but no. As for these, I always thought this design looked quite handsome at the cost of some functionality. But if they get the job done I'm certainly not complaining."

"This ends now doctor" Shadow said, getting into a battle stance, an action that was mirrored by the others. "Since you're still here I assume you have some other creation around here somewhere."

"Your assumption is correct Shadow" he replied, "but I'm saving it for Sonic. He should remember it."

"What with the outdated junk heaps?" Amy asked.

"I saved them from being destroyed from the past when I escaped that timeless prison" he said while brushing one side of moustache with his hand. "Now, where is that annoying pin cushion?"

"Not here" Knuckles growled at the human.

"How come whenever I try to take over the world he's here but when I try to destroy him he's late?" Eggman mumbled to himself, his head in his hands before he raised his head and pointed at Amy. "You, you're his girlfriend. Don't you have a cell phone number for him or something?"

This caused the pink hedgehog to slip back into her girly-girl mood, shown by her happily closing her eyes, lifting her leg into the air and started to hug her hammer. "He thinks I'm Sonic's girlfriend" she squealed.

Both Shadow and Knuckles gave her a glare that said 'you have to be joking' but before either one of them could say anything Cream spoke. "Amy, perhaps now isn't the best time for that" she said as politely as she could.

This snapped her out of it. "Of course" she said, slightly embarrassed before her body tensed again as she addressed Eggman. "Sonic isn't really a cell phone person."

The would-be dictator sighed. "_I wanted to save my surprise for Sonic but I can't hold it off for much longer. The girls are of no threat to me but Knuckles I can't ignore and Shadow is not one to take lightly_". A grin appeared on his face as one of his last horde of EggRobos appeared behind them, with their lasers charged.

Cream just hugged Cheese as she wouldn't be able to launch an attack in time. "_What do I do?_"

Amy was also having the same problem. "_I won't be able to destroy them all before they fire. The Hammer Tornado could work but I don't think the robots would let me jump_".

Both Knuckles and Shadow had attacks that could wipe out the opposing forces in one blow but they both had problems with them.

"_Grr..._" Knuckles mentally growled with his fists tightly clenched. If he clenched them any harder he would hurt himself. "_If only I had time to focus my energies into the Maximum Heart attack then these things can go back to being junk_."

Shadow was also summing up his options. "_This is why I work better alone. If I were I would simply Chaos Blast them but I can't. It would hurt them and I can't risk that in case Eggman has a plan which coincides with one of my missions. Plus I don't think I would like the blue hedgehog's response if I did that_."

Just before the robots fired they were bombarded by strikes from a blue and an orange blur which revealed to be two balls. They hit the floor and uncurled to show Sonic and Tails, both on one knee.

"Heads up Eggman, the hedgehog is here" he said with a confident smirk on his face as he got to his feet. His moment was soon ruined by his best friend.

"You know, I'm here to" he said unimpressed with a look to match.

This confused the speedster. "Yeah?"

"But you don't announce my arrival in a dramatic way despite us making the same entrance" the fox replied, miffed.

"What'd you want me say? That the hedgehog and fox are here? As that doesn't have the same ring to it" he retorted. "You never complained about it before."

Tails turned away in a huff. "It never bothered me before."

"Guys" they both heard Amy shout, getting the pair's attention. The assembled group before them looked surprised by Tails' appearance, even Shadow although you could only see it in his eyes.

"Hi guys" the brothers said at the same time.

"Tails, why are you bigger?" Cream asked while the ball floating above Cheese's head turned into a question mark, indicating that he was also confused.

"A better question would be to ask how he is older" Knuckles stated.

Tails rubbed the back of his neck, he wasn't used to being the centre of attention and the whole situation was odd to begin with. "Well it happened when I found some pieces of Time Eater's core and placed a Chaos Emerald near it. When Sonic touched me while I was being zapped I became his age."

"Okay" the rabbit said happily, not really understanding all of the fox's explanation but understood that if Chaos Emeralds anything could happen. "I think you look nice Tails, or is it Mister Tails?"

"Thanks Cream" Tails said gratefully. "But I'm still the same person that I always was."

As he said that though both Knuckles and Shadow were thinking the same thing. "_I don't think so_."

"And you're okay with this?" Amy asked her beloved blue hero.

"Well, once we wrap things up here he'll be going back to normal" he said plainly. "Speaking of which, bring out what ever contraption you out so we can get back."

Eggman had been thinking about what he could achieve if he got hold of those shards of his greatest creation until his nemesis had broken his trail of thought. "Of course, I'd been waiting just for you to do this" he said as he pointed to the sky. "Let me reintroduce to..." His rant was interrupted by Tails.

"No" he said staring at Sonic.

"Come again?" the hedgehog asked.

The human was annoyed that the dramatic entrance of his machine had been interrupted. "How dare you? Even I don't interrupt your blabbering with random words" he shouted.

"Shut up and let me explain then" the fox shouted back, much to the surprise of his friends. He turned to Sonic. "I'm mean no; I'm not going back to being eight. I'm staying at the age."

The only thing the hedgehog could do was widen his eyes. "What?"


	4. Fractured Friendship

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 4: Fractured Friendship**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Sonic the Hedgehog felt numb, as if he couldn't feel his body. He had faced countless robots, been in the centre of several death traps, face countless foes including a water monster (very hard when you're hydrophobic), the Ultimate life form, a temperamental time traveller, a legendary deity at the edge of the planet's crust, immortal knights, controlling genies and if his dreams had any truth in them, a god which almost ended time itself. But no matter the threat the hedgehog felt like he could take them on and at the very least made something better.

So why then, that despite the pain and wounds he had been inflicted with over his lengthy career, that all it took was a single sentence to make him lose all feeling. "_Why? Why would he want to stay sixteen_?" he thought. "_It's... It's not right! I know he had to grow up fast being with me and well, he's likely mentally older than me but now he wants to be my age! Did he not like being my little brother? Or does he not want me around anymore? Did I do something wrong?_"

Back in reality Tails was giving Sonic a concerned look, he was worried about his brother's reaction to his declaration but if worst came to worst he was more than willing to defy the hedgehog. "Sonic, you okay?"

"Why Tails? Did I do something to upset you in some way?" he asked.

It wasn't the reaction the fox was expecting. "What's that got to do with this?"

Sonic opened his mouth to explain only for the hedgehog to be grabbed by his black counterpart and pushed him out of the way while Knuckles did the same for Tails. A second later a metal arm slammed the ground. The pair looked up to see that Eggman's hover chair had been joined by new parts.

A glass windshield had come up in front of him, joining the chair to a canopy which had spikes on the roof. The most eye catching feature though was the two giant metal arms that were now attached to the chair, the wrists of these arms also covered in spikes. Sonic recognised it immediately.

"Big Arm?" he said, confused as to why the would-be-dictator was using a machine that he defeated in the past.

In the cockpit Eggman was muttering to himself but since he was cut off from the world he needed a microphone to continue his banter with his foes, and he activated it too soon. "I knew I should have thought of a better name for my machines back then." It was then he realised that he had made a fool of himself again. "Grr, fine. A perfectly built machine by any other name would she smash you as good." As soon as he had said that Big Arm pumped its fists.

The blue hedgehog was about to say something but another EggRobo appeared beside him while the same thing happened to Tails. He didn't react as Amy moved quickly to swing her hammer on the robot's gun, destroying it before knocking it away.

The female hedgehog then turned to the speedster. "You just leave these to us so you can focus on stopping Eggman. Maybe afterwards we can go on a date to celebrate" she said with a wink, scaring the hero as to how quickly she went from serious to flirty. Not that he couldn't comment, he was joking one second and focused the next.

"Amy, if we celebrated every time we foiled one of Boldy Nosehair's plans we would never stop" he said jokingly.

Simultaneously to Amy destroying the robot, Cream threw Cheese at the EggRobo next to Tails disarming it before she kicked it with both feet. "Are you okay Mister Tails?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks Cream" he replied. He noticed that she was looking away from him. "Are you blushing?" he asked, confused as to why.

The rabbit hesitated to answer, embarrassed by the topic. "_I know Mama says that I'm too young to be thinking about boys but Mister Tails is very kind and Amy is always saying that we could double date with her and Mister Sonic. And now that I know what he looks like in eight years time I think I understand what Amy is always talking about_" she thought.

Thankfully her chao friend came to her rescue. With a few cries of the single word he could say and pointing towards Eggman the genius got the hint. "Right Eggman" he said, realising that this was not the time to make enquires. "Don't worry Cream, we'll win like always."

"Leave Eggman to me" the hedgehog and fox said at the same time, earning them a stare at each other.

"You didn't think I'd let you take all the glory" Tails said jokingly.

"Not at all" Sonic replied in the same tone. "It'll be like old times, kinda." Despite being a decent fighter the fox had taken a more background role in some of his more recent adventures. Still important but he left most of the leg work to Sonic while the hedgehog had left most of brain work to Tails. Although Sonic greatly appreciated all the construction he did during their time in Blaze's world, all the flying he did to get him around the world when it was broken, all the time he put into the very useful wisp translator and how quickly he figured out what the white world was and how to bring life back to the places that ended up there.

It wasn't the same though. Back in the day it was the two of them smashing robots and taking down the dictator, like two peas in a pod. He could enjoy back then though as his thoughts were constantly clogged by thoughts of "_This is no place for a child_." Now though it seemed like they were on separate paths, him the fleet footed international treasure and Tails the mechanical prodigy. Sonic feared that it would eventually mean that the pair could lose touch or at least be less close with each other.

"If you two are quite finished I'd like to get to the part where I crush you two and start construction of Eggmanland" the doctor bellowed, the machine he was in looking like it was cracking his knuckles.

"Sure sure" Sonic said casually, beginning to stretch his arms as he did. "So doc, is it still the same gizmo that I trashed ages ago?"

"Don't get too cocky, I've enhanced it."

The speedster put on his thinking face and started to closely look at the Big Arm. "It still looks the same to me."

Tails put one of his hands on his head. "He said enhanced it, not completely upgrade it" he said with a moan.

Sonic clicked his fingers as a light bulb went off inside his head. "Like when I faced the Death Egg Robot and the Egg Dragoon back in the past" he exclaimed and got a nod from his brother.

"Correct. You should listen to your foxy friend Sonic. He knows a thing or two about machines but not nearly as much as me" Eggman retorted. "And besides, it's not called the Egg Dragoon it's called the Ultra Hyper prototype Mark 1!"

"But that sounds like a bunch of powerful sounding words you put together randomly" Tails said earning him a grin from the blue hedgehog.

"I was just thinking the same thing" he said.

Inside his cockpit the human was throwing a temper tantrum. "Enough! You foil me plans, my speeches and now even my invention's names. That does it! Get ready to meet your maker!" he shouted in a rage.

"I'm not interested in meet him today" Sonic said casually.

"Yeah, I've got stuff to do before then" Tails added before both their bodies tensed, ready for battle.

"Follow my lead" they both shouted at the same time before they glared at each other. "Your lead?" they said simultaneously. Eggman then slammed one of robot's fists at the duo who both jumped in the opposite direction: Sonic to the left and Tails to the right.

"I always lead" Sonic said, a little flabbergasted that his brother was now trying to usurp him and take charge for the first time in their relationship. He jumped on the arm and quickly bounded off it, curling up into a spin which headed straight towards the human before the other arm blocked the assault. The arm then did a back hand strike which caused Tails, who had taken to the skies to stop his own attack and quickly ascend, just narrowly avoiding harm.

"I know but that was back when you the more experienced one" Tails said. "I figure I should have a go at leading since we're both in the same position. The machine followed the fox in an attempt the skewer him but Sonic jumped up and kicked the windscreen in front of Eggman, removing his hands from the controls for a second giving the genius enough time to also strike the windshield with his tails. He then flew down a grabbed the hedgehog's wrists before Sonic touched the ground, allowing the pair to avoid another punch.

"Stay still and let me squash you like good victims" Eggman cried out.

"I don't think so" Sonic retorted without missing a beat. However at the same time the fox came up with his own come-back.

"How about no?" However the resulting mixture of the two statements prevented the human from making out what either Mobian had said, causing him to raise an eyebrow in confusion. The brothers frowned at each other.

"He was talking to me Tails and you ruined my quip" the speedster said, a little angry that his mid-battle banter with his nemesis had been ruined.

Tails replied in the same tone. "I'm fighting him just as much as you are and before you even think that you are answering for the both of us, don't. I have a brain; I can just as easily come up with something to say in return."

"_He's been getting on my nerves ever since the accident_" Sonic thought before replying to his best friend. "I know that but this is how it's always been between me and him."

The answer didn't satisfy Tails. "You make it sound like you're the only person to ever fight him. Remember, I saved this city from Eggman all by myself". He continued his rant mentally. "_Has Sonic always been this irritating? Why haven't I noticed this before_?"

"I didn't see you when I was battling the Egg Nega Wisp."

"That's because you pushed me in the lift like some sort of dead weight!"

"What's your excuse when I went to Mobius' mantle and defeated Dark Gaia?"

"We were in enemy territory and I had nowhere to land."

"I know for a fact that you made some way for the Tornado to get back home by itself. You used it when you and Knuckles gave me that letter from Metal Sonic when he pretending to be Eggman."

"That was the Tornado 2. I flew you to Eggmanland in the original Tornado..." The fox was cut off by the hedgehog.

"I also know that you upgrade to two fairly as you can't decide which one you like better."

"The system would not avoid the fire we were under."

"You mean from the robots you destroyed beforehand?"

"You were underground for most of that. You didn't see the reinforcements he had!"

Eggman was starting lose his patience. He was used to having some sort of insult flinging match with his nemesis during their encounters but now he was having an agreement with the fox of all people. "_I'm tempted to destroy them just so I don't have to listen to this anymore_" he mentally groaned.

* * *

><p>Back on the ground Amy was batting away robots left and right but that wasn't what was bothering her. Despite not liking violence Cream was willing to give t her all if it was for a cause se believed in, stopping the doctor from hurting others being one of them. However her movements seemed sluggish in comparison to her usual vigour. Cheese was mostly acting on his own but the pink hedgehog could tell that the chao was also concerned for the rabbit.<p>

Seeing a decrease of the EggRobos Amy decided now was the time to find out what was troubling her best friend. "What's wrong Cream?"

"I'm fine Amy" Cream replied while looking down and putting her hands together. It wasn't like her to hide her feelings, not like she was doing a good job.

Cheese then came up to her. "Chao chao?" What that actually meant was lost on Amy but it seemed to mean something to the younger Mobian so she didn't question it.

"Okay then" she said in response to the chao, turning to face Amy. "I'm a bad person."

"No you're not" Amy comforted her as Cheese landed on her shoulder, a gesture which both Mobians knew translated to 'I'm there for you'. Amy's gaze averted to Shadow who was fighting on the beach showing his foes no mercy, hi blows tearing right through the robots. Realising that he was now surrounded and his allies far enough away the G.U.N. commando started to surrounded himself with a red aura which then expanded, obliterating anything that touched it, robots and the small pier included. "You are definitely not a bad person" Amy continued. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Because I don't like how Mister Tails is talking to Mister Sonic and you know how much I like Tails." Knowing Cream as well as she did Amy knew that when she said "Mister Tails" she meant Tails as he is now and by "Tails" she meant the kit that they had befriended. "Tails and Mister Sonic get along so well but Mister Sonic and Mister Tails are fighting themselves instead of stopping Dr. Eggman. Is it bad that I feel that way?"

"No Cream. That doesn't make you bad, it makes you normal as I feel the same way. I don't like this new Tails either."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the background of the setting sun Knuckles was finally getting revenge on the robots that caused him so much grief in the past. He was dashing from robot to robot, smashing them with his fists. This was his Maximum Heat Attack, a move similar to Sonic Light Speed Attack only with punching instead of spin dashing. "That's for throwing a bomb at me!" He glided swiftly to another one. "That's for touching the Master Emerald!" Another EggRobo was turned into spare parts. "That's for trying to stop me from getting it back!" He then reached the last one near him and raised his namesake. "And that's for giving it to that Sonic robot that kept draining its energy!"<p>

The EggRobo was smashed a part by the Guardian's forceful punch, swiftly meeting its end as the echidna's feet reunited with the ground. Having a chance to see how Sonic and Tails were doing he was surprised to see them in the middle of one of the worst agreements he had seen the pair in, and he had ended up in the middle of several particularly bad ones but never when they were supposed to be thrashing Eggman. Since Sonic had defeated this machine in the past by himself he expected the hedgehog to make short work of it. As he saw the duo still verbally going at each other in the air a thought came to him. "_Older Tails makes me think more of Sonic than actual Tails_." He crossed his arms in annoyance. "_Great, two of them. That's just what Mobius needs_."

* * *

><p>The human looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel with the enraged look he was giving his foes. "That does it! I'm trying to destroy you but you two are only interested in a verbal fight. I like your misery but not in ways that also make me miserable. I'm going to do Mobius a favour and end this squabbling by squishing the pair of you!"<p>

The Big Arm started its attempt to punch the pair with Tails being able to keep both himself and Sonic out of harm's way. The fox was already coming up with a plan. "_We're getting quite close to the station building. If I throw Sonic at the wall then I'll get Eggman to position his arms so he can get a clear shot_." A grin appeared on his face."_If not then I'll get Eggman while he's dealing with Sonic_."

The hedgehog was also coming up with a plan of action. Unfortunately it was not the same as the one his cohort was thinking of. "_If Tails does a Thunder Shoot at him, Eggman's machine won't be able to move giving Tails the perfect chance to throw me straight at him_." A grin appeared on his face. "_I'll finish this in one shot_."

"Sonic!"

"Tails!"

They both shouted each other's names in order to for the other would know that it's time to launch their counter attack. However Sonic's eyes widen when Tails quickly turned and threw him at the station's wall instead of at the machine like he expected him to. Although Sonic was still able to land on his feet since he wasn't expecting it the only thing he could was let himself drop, using gravity to launch a spin dash to the ground.

Tails, both shocked and a little mad that his brother hadn't followed up on his plan, stopped his tails for a second causing him to fall, allowing him to avoid the robot's assault. Just before he hit the ground he started spinning his name sakes again, slowing his decent so that he touched down softly. As soon as the hedgehog's green eyes met his blue one he regretted coming down at all.

"Why on Mobius did you throw me into a wall?" he exclaimed.

It took a lot of the fox's mental strength not to sigh at this point. "The plan was that you bounce off the wall and get Eggman while I distracted him."

"No it wasn't. The plan was that once you got a clear shot you throw me at Eggman so we could be halfway back to the workshop by now."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Tails growled as he started to march towards his former idol. "I am not a mind reader."

"You normally know what I'm thinking without me having to say a word" Sonic snapped back, mirroring the mechanic's actions. They both ended up with their forehead pressed together and their furious eyes locked on each other.

"My plan would have worked better!" Tails shouted. "But you had to ruin it. Is this so I would look bad and you would get all the glory yet again?"

"Believe me you don't need my help to make you look bad?" the hedgehog retorted in the same tone. "My plan works because both of us know it, unlike your plan which you just made up then without telling me."

"I shouldn't have to tell you, you are not my boss!"

"Think again Miles!" Sonic only used Tails' real name in situations like this, when the pair were having a full blown argument, but every time they made up eventually. However both the hedgehog and fox could feel that this one felt heavier than all the other spats they've had, no matter bad when it came to Eggman they were always in sync despite any home troubles. Now however...

"Once we trash Eggman 'bot we are going home and you are going back to being the little bro I know!"

"No! You do not get to boss me around anymore Sonic!" the fox screamed at him. "I am staying like this and I will use my superior brain power to get rid of Eggman without you!"

"SHUT UP!" another voice interjected causing the two Mobians to turn towards the speaker. It turned out to be Eggman with the Big Arm looking like it was ready to strike. Before either of them could blink an eyelid the robot struck both of them with its metallic palm sending them flying through Station Square station's glass doors.

It took a second to realise what he had just done but when he did he started to grin. He may have finally got a victory against Sonic the Hedgehog.


	5. Broken Brotherhood

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 5: Broken Brotherhood**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

"_That hurt_." It was the only thought going through the mind of Sonic the Hedgehog as he went sailing the glass doors of Station Square's train station, the older form of his best friend alongside him. He almost didn't register himself hitting the marble floor. Groggily he was able to pick himself off the floor; he was made of sturdy stuff. Sure it hurt a lot but thankfully he hadn't suffered any physical wounds, no blood. That was good, Tails hated blood and he wasn't too fond of it either.

"_Tails!_" He looked to his right and found the fox in question. It looked like in the future he would be as sturdy as himself as from what he could see the fox seemed to be in the same condition he was in, only difference being that the blow must have knocked him unconscious. "_It's properly for the better_" he thought as he dusted the shards of glass off him. It was then that he felt someone watching him from behind.

Worried that it would be another Eggman robot he quickly spun around only to find a large group of humans. The ones at the front all wore grey uniforms with black gloves, helmets and gloves and they all had at least one firearm on them, mostly in their hands but some had an extra gun in a holster on their waist. The hedgehog knew these people to be G.U.N soldiers. They had seemed to have formed a line separating the mass of people behind them, who looked like ordinary civilians, from the door that he had just crashed through.

"_Oh, this must be where G.U.N. is keeping the local people safe. That explains why Shads is here_" he realised before he noticed that everyone was looking straight at him and they did not look happy. Deciding to lift the mood a little he decided to smile, even it was very weak. "Don't worry everyone. I'm fine enough to kick Eggman's butt still." After he said that he noticed the citizens avert their gaze to Tails. "He's fine too, but would you do me favour and look after him until I get back."

Not waiting to hear the answer he knew they would answer the speedster spun on his heel and began to walk towards the way he entered the building, the movement of footsteps confirming it. A second later though a voice stopped him. "Leaving me behind again?"

Sonic's face fell as he looked over his shoulder to find the blue eyes of his best friend open and looking at him. The fox was in the arms of two soldiers who put him down when they saw that he was awake. He silently thanked them. "_No surprise there_" he thought. "_He leaves me on my own to travel around the world, something he could do in under an hour and now he leaves me with soldiers when I'm unconscious. He knows that our partnership with the military is shaky at best_."

"Oh, you're awake" Sonic deadpanned.

"Don't sound too happy to see me" the fox shot back, his voice ladled with sarcasm.

The pair just stared at each other for a few second before the hedgehog spoke. "Look Tails, I know we have a few things to discuss when we get back but right now I just want to deal with evil scientist who wants to destroy us" he said like it was an everyday occurrence, which to them it was.

"What do you have in mind?" the genius asked, knowing that the hedgehog was going to bargain with him.

"A truce. We put off this row until after we sent Eggman packing."

"Give me a chance to explain all the good I can do as teen and I'll accept" he answered instantly.

"Deal." Sonic extended his hand which Tails shook. "You still okay to keep going?"

"Just a little sore here and there but good enough." Accepting that answer the hedgehog turned to leave.

Walking side by side Sonic could help but think. "_Great, I just had to call a truce with my best friend. The sooner this day's over the better_."

Tails was also deep in thought as the exit neared. "_I can't believe that he only gave a chance to explain myself to shut me up. Bossing me around like some kind of dictator. It's as if he doesn't like me anymore_." He eyes widen in realisation as at this thought. "_That's way he's being so difficult, he doesn't like me anymore. That must mean that he's threatened by me now_."

When they got outside they found that Eggman was still laughing manically while the others had taken care of the EggRobos and were about to start confronting Big Arm themselves until Amy noticed them.

"Sonic! Tails! You're alright" she exclaimed before dashing over and hugging her self-proclaimed boyfriend before he winced and she left go. "Sorry."

"It's fine Amy" he said calmly. A second later Cream was next to Tails.

"Are you okay Mister Tails?" she asked with a "chao" from Cheese which the fox could only imagine was the chao echoing his owner's question.

"I'm still okay to take down Eggman, and it's just Tails" he replied. He then noticed that the rabbit looked like she had something to say but was looking down at her hands which she had cupped together. "Is something wrong Cream?"

Just as she opened her mouth after hesitating for a second Knuckles spoke up, preventing her from saying what she wanted to. "Nice to know you can still stand or that you haven't torn each other's throats out yet" he said, clearly not happy with the pair. Neither the blue hedgehog or two tailed fox answered verbally but decided to glare the echidna.

"Your squabbling is beginning to irritate me" Shadow said, his arms folded and eyes closed. "If you two can't work together then I'll defeat the doctor myself." With that this eyes snapped open and his body tensed.

Knuckles' hands formed fists as he also tensed his body. "You don't think I'm going to stand here and let you do everything do you?"

"Fine, just don't get in my way" the black hedgehog said without even looking at him. Before either of them could move Sonic and Tails moved in front of them.

"What you think you're doing?" Knuckles asked in a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Finishing what we started" the fox answered flatly.

"You two are in no condition to continue fighting" Shadow said. "Leave this to us."

"We're fine, but thanks anyway Shads" his blue counterpart replied.

"Guys..." the Guardian started before being interrupted by the pair he was referring to.

"This one's mine" they both said before they both curled up and spin dashed into the cockpit, ruining the human's laughing fit.

"Huh? You two?" he exclaimed while pointing at them.

"Sorry Eggman, not in the mood" Sonic said as Tails grabbed him and using the momentum of bouncing off the machine threw him again, scoring another clean hit. Before he could grab the controls again the fox caught the hedgehog again only this time Sonic used the momentum to fling his friend into the windshield which he also turned into a spin attack before bouncing back to the speedster.

"Throw me again Sonic" the genius commanded but Sonic knew what he was going to.

"You just had to turn."

"That machine's at its limit and if I throw you again it would mean you would be the one to destroy it, yet again. Plus even you can admit that if you do it twice and me once then it's unfair."

This caused Sonic to take a deep breath to not comment on the "even you" part of his sentence. "_Remember the truce, remember the truce_" he mentally urged himself.

The spiralling pair then heard to cries from down below. "Look out!" both female Mobians shrieked causing them to notice that Eggman had taken advantage of their momentary delay in the final blow to launch a counter attack in the form of the metal fist coming towards them.

"Tails, we'll get him together!" Sonic exclaimed as the idea came to him. He swung Tails upwards who did the same to him, allowing them to avoid Big Arm's attack before they both curled up into balls while still holding hand and dashed towards the mad scientist.

Eggman's face dropped when he saw this. "No, they can't. I was going to win" he angrily said to himself before he pressed a large red button marked 'eject', causing the spiked lid of Big Arm to open allowing the scientist to escape in his hover chair just as the pair's spin dash tore through the cockpit where the doctor had been seconds before, causing the now useless arms to crash into the ground.

"This isn't the end of this" Eggman shouted at his opponents before he took off into the night's sky. "_I may have lose a bunch of outdated robots and been denied ownership of that miserable city but this was not a waste of time_." A grin crept onto his face. "_Finding out that there are pieces of Time Eater's core in this time is reward enough but fox boy and Sonic's spat is just delightful. There must be a way for me to take advantage of this fortunate turn of events_."

* * *

><p>Back on the ground Shadow activated the wrist communicator he wore underneath his glove's cuff. G.U.N. protocol states that all field agents must have a communication device on them at all times when on active duty. For regular soldiers this was a radio but for agents like himself and his closest friend who didn't have pockets or wear belts they had wrist communicators that they wore under their gloves. "This is Shadow the Hedgehog to headquarters, do you copy?"<p>

"We read you loud and clear Agent Shadow" a male voice said as it came out of the device. "What is the status of your mission?"

"Mission completed despite a few minor setbacks" the commando replied, glancing at the brothers who hadn't said a word to each other since forcing the doctor to retreat.

"Good job agent, we'll have a cleanup team there shortly."

"Okay. Tell our field agent at Eggman's base that her 'host' is returning."

"Copy that."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Sonic had been fending off Amy's assault of love. "Amy please, not now." Seeing his dour expression she stopped, knowing that this would not help her chances with him if she continued while he's in that mood.<p>

The pair then started to walk off. "Wait, that's it?" Knuckles asked. "You have a go out each other and then leave without saying anything?"

"We've got, *sigh*, some important stuff to talk about at home" Sonic said, not looking forward to going back to the workshop.

"We can help you get through this" Amy pleaded, not liking what would happen if the pair were left by themselves.

"Thanks, but after the last fight you saw us had I'd rather we dealt with this" Tails replied, thinking back to when they had fallen out over a board game which then descended into a fully fledged fight with involved reality changing to get the pair back together. The fox couldn't help thinking that they hadn't played that game since.

Just as the pair turned to leave they heard a shout. "Mister Tails, you shouldn't be so mean to Mister Sonic!" They both knew it was Cream from the voice and the vocabulary but they were still surprised that out of all their friends, the one without anger issues was the one to bring this up.

"What?" Tails said, exasperated that Cream said that.

She faltered for a second before building up her resolve to speak again. "Mister Tails, I don't like it how you have been shouting at Mister Sonic even though he hasn't done anything different. You two are such good friends, you shouldn't be fighting each other especially if it gets you hurt."

"So you decide to tell me this like I'm the bad guy" the fox snapped back, the forceful tone of his voice scaring the rabbit. "Out of everybody here I thought you would be the one to understand how I felt. Living my life in a spiky blue shadow."

He started marching towards her. "When Sonic gets into trouble I have to be one who bails him out just like you and Amy. Do we get any thanks? Knowing Amy maybe you do but I don't so you have no room for complaint. I thought we could've had something in the future but the future is now and all I see is bitter disappointment." He stopped in front of Cream, whose eyes were beginning to water. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Cheese sprung to his friends defence by flying between the fox and rabbit, making the only sound he could in angry protest. Then Tails felt someone tap him on the shoulder and turned around to see who it was only to met by the Piko Piko Hammer slamming into his face, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. Once he recovered from the shock he found and furious Amy Rose looming over him.

"If you ever talk to Cream like that again, I'll do Eggman's job for him and smash you myself" she said with a deadly undertone. Getting to his feet Tails looked like he was going to say something but someone else spoke up instead.

"Watch it Miles" Sonic said in a serious tone of voice. "If you're mad me for some reason, fine be mad at me. Do not take it out on our friends who care, or cared, about you." The use of Tails' real name only happened during intense arguments like this one.

The fox gave off a low growl before turning away from the pink hedgehog in front of him. "Of course, you all take his side as usual. I'm not surprised when our friends consists of your biggest fan, the girl who mother you saved alongside her, your friendly rival and your not-so-friendly rival who you saved the planet with" he shouted mostly at his brother.

"Hey, don't drag me into this" Knuckles exclaimed. "I haven't breathed a word on the subject."

"I could see how you felt in your eyes" the kid turned teen snapped back before turning to the silent hedgehog. "Same for you."

"That's it" the speedster said as he zipped over to Tails and grabbed his wrist.

"Let go!"

"We're going home so you can go back to normal and stop being a jerk" Sonic said through gritted teeth.

After some struggle the fox was able to break his hold. "I said I'm not going back and that I was going to get a chance to explain myself. You're going to break our truce?"

"You already broke it, so I don't want to hear anything you have to say unless its 'I wanna be eight again'."

The genius felt betrayed by everyone. His friends and his only family had turned on him for what? Wanting a little of recognition he deserved? Wanting to be his own person and not just the sidekick no one gave a second glance at?

"I... I..." he said, his voice breaking. "I HATE YOU ALL!" he screamed before he dashed out of the city and back towards the Mystic Ruins. Sonic let out a big sigh just before Cream broke down in tears with Cheese holding a handkerchief in front her. Amy was by her side in a second.

"It's okay Cream" she said reassuringly. "He doesn't know what he's saying." "_All those teenage hormones are messing with his head_" she mentally added.

"It's not that" she said between gasps of air. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't had said anything and now I met everything worse."

Amy tried to think of something to say but before she could Sonic was there, crouching down on one knee so he was on the same eye level as the younger Mobian. His hand was on her shoulder. "No Cream, you did the right thing. If you hadn't said that then I would've later. At least now he knows that we're all worried about him."

"Are you sure that's the message he got from all that shouting?" she asked, a little confused. It took the blue hedgehog a second to think of his reply.

"We teenagers have a weird way of showing things like that" he said with a smile.

"That goes for all boys in general, but teenaged one are the worst" Amy chipped in with the same expression on her face. Sonic got back on to his feet as he was about to go but Cream stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"Will you be able to get Tails back?" she asked.

"Off course. He's going back to normal whether he wants to or not, even if I have to break every bone in his stubborn body to do so", he replied before he muttered "it'll be easier than having to talk to him."

"Please don't do that" she replied, causing the hero to realise that the rabbit had heard him.

"I don't want to..." he started but it was Amy who finished the sentence.

"He's joking Cream, aren't you Sonic?" It was one of those questions that already had an answer for it.

"Of course. Now I'd better get back and deal with all this. Knux, Shads, Amt Cream, Cheese, later."

Just as he was about to set off he was stopped again. "Sonic, if things get bad you're welcome to stay at my place. I have a sofa bed with your name on it." Sonic knew that said sofa bed actually did have his name on it, or at least the handmade throw on it did. As well as various images of him and lots of love hearts. Normally he would have declined politely with a joke but today was different.

"I think I may have to, thanks" he answered before he waved his hand and left.

"Come on Cream, let's get you home. Your mum will be wondering where you are" the pink hedgehog suggested as she and the rabbit started to move themselves.

"Crud" Knuckles said as they left. "I was counting on getting a ride back to the island but there's no way I'm getting in between those two. That leaves you Shadow. Mind giving me lift back?"

"Sorry, I'm busy" Shadow answered bluntly.

"Listen, you know how important it is to keep the Master Emerald safe. If I'm not there then it's an easy target for Eggman or your batty friend."

"Rouge is currently on a mission, but I guess you won't leave me alone until I agree." The echidna gave him a nod. "Fine, I'll contact headquarters." He raised his glove to his mouth. "Shadow the Hedgehog to Headquarters, do you copy?"

"We read you, Agent Shadow."

"Requesting permission to transport Knuckles the Echidna back to Angel Island."

A few seconds later the hedgehog got his reply. "Permission granted."

He looked at Knuckles and nodded, getting one back in return before he turned back to communicator. "Is Commander Tower available? I have a request to ask him."

Back in the Mystic Ruin the streak running across the rough terrain stopped in front of the workshop, noting that not a light was on inside. Sighing and gathering his resolve, he reached for the door handle.


	6. End of an Era?

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 6: End of an Era? **

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Tails was in a foul mood when he returned home. He felt hurt and betrayed by everyone. All he wanted was stay sixteen so he could use his developed brain and muscles to help everyone but they all turned on him. Is it really so bad that didn't want to be Sonic's number two?

When he was younger his was bullied for his second tail and when it seemed that there was no one in the world who would give him the time of day, his blue hero burst into his life and it was never the same again. Sure he had to deal with a crazed doctor on a regular basis but in return he got friends, each just as special as him, and a person who he could talk to about anything and would never leave him no matter what. Or so he thought...

Earlier on today he came across shards of Time Eater's core which after he put them in contact with the Chaos Emerald which aged him so he was the same age as his big brother. Since then things had gone downhill. Being older had its perks, his brain and muscles had fully developed and it was apparent that if this was his body from the future that he takes care of himself.

Then came the problem. Ever since then Sonic has been distant, like there was something on his mind that he didn't want to talk about. Although it hurt him a little that he felt he couldn't talk to him about, this situation had happened before but this time it annoyed him for some reason. In fact a lot of this about his best friend had rubbed him up the wrong way, things that he would normally take in his stride or ignore altogether.

Things had only got worse once they left the house. He felt jealous of his blue idol getting all the attention from Eggman and had tried to claim it, which lead to in fighting between them, the pair being forced through glass doors and him blowing up at their friends before running off here. And the worst part was there was still more fight left in him.

It wasn't long before Sonic entered. "Tails, you there?" he asked as he turned on the light, only to find the fox stood in the kitchen doorway turned away from him. "What was with the dark?"

"How I felt" he answered back before asking his own question. "Why don't you like me anymore?"

The speedster was taken aback by this. "It's not like I don't like you, it's just that you're being hard to like."

"In what way?"

"What sort of question is that?" the hedgehog said, raising his voice. "The arguing, you blowing up like that by something Cream said, Cream of all people."

"Just because I want to be my own person!" Tails snapped, turning to face his best friend as he did. "You shot me down as you want me to stay nothing more than your sidekick forever. Well, I'm not the little kid that title used to impressed by that title."

"How can you say that? I let you build a workshop underneath our home just so you could be your own person. It's you who seems to have the problem with me for some imaginary reason which just happened to appear after your age changed."

"You're saying that this is my fault?"

"If the glove fits" Sonic said in his matter-of-fact voice.

Tails glared at him for a few seconds before starting again. "Fine, have it your way as usual" he grumbled before speaking to the hedgehog. "You've been your head for way too long today."

"And? You practically live in your head some days."

"You calling me antisocial now as well."

"That was not what I meant by that and you know it."

The fox putting his head in his hands and gripped in with frustration. "You only do that if there is something big on your mind. But instead of telling your best friend and supposed brother you keep it to yourself."

"I don't have to tell you everything" the speedster protested before his mechanic friend interjected.

"Because you think I can't help or take it, like I'm some useless kid who you keep around just to feel better about yourself."

"That's not..." Sonic's statement would be finished as the fox's rant continued.

"I think I know what this is all about. You're threatened by me now."

"What?"

"You won't even admit it" he said, pointing his finger at the blue Mobian. "You're afraid that now that I'm all grown up that I'll take your spotlight because now I can."

"Yeah right" Sonic said under his breath but due to his good hearing Tails still heard, and it made him fume.

"I can't believe this; you're still not listening to me."

"How can I not with you shouting at me?" Sonic retorted before he threw his arms up. "Listen, just go back normal and everything will be back to the way it should be."

"That's my point right there" Tails shouted, mirroring the hedgehog's action. "I said that I am staying like this!"

The hero narrowed his eyes. "And I said you aren't!"

"Listen well Sonic as I'm only going to say this once" the fox replied, also narrowing his eyes. "I do not follow you around like a lost puppy anymore, I do not take orders from you anymore and I do not need you anymore."

If the speedster had anything, it was his pride. A national hero, fastest thing alive, he just liked being liked and needed. Smashing robots started out as a matter of life or death but now it was almost relaxing, but while being Tails' big brother is the most rewarding endeavour he had ever undertaken it had also become harder.

He'd watched him grow up into the kind mechanic he turned out to be, only to end up a teenager with an attitude. But he always felt needed: whether it was forcing him to take a bath, making sure he ate well, comforting him during lightning storms or just being there if he needed to talk to someone to. He felt needed and he liked that so he dreaded the day that the fox would no longer need him, which due to Tails' superior intellect was going to be quite soon.

He never expected that it would be today. It felt like a knife through his heart. "_Funny how Eggman had tried to do this for years but in the end the one to really hurt was my bro_" he thought. Any other time he would have ran off and though about it alone but his temper was flared already which changed everything. Taking way his need to help was wounding him and what does a wounded animal do when angered, attack back.

"I never needed you" he replied after a moment of silence, his face full of rage.

"How dare you?" the fox growled.

"It's true. I never needed to take you with me back then."

"But you did. You put a child in danger just so you could inflate your ego."

"Well right now I wishing that I left you to burn in that orphanage" he shouted. A heavy silence followed.

Now it was Tails turn to feel backstabbed. "_Everything he did was just a lie. He used me just so he'd have a sidekick and now he says he never wanted me. You're just the same as everyone back in Emerald Hill, but at least they were clear that they hated me_" he thought through his dumbstruck brain.

"I hadn't needed you for a while now" the fox quietly said after a minute past. "But I only claimed so you'd stick around. What a mistake that was."

"We'd both know that without me you'd be thinking so much you would starve."

"And without me you would still be running around Eggman's amusement park with no clue what to do."

They both glared at each other with pure rage in their eyes.

"It's time I got a best friend who actually listens to me" Tails growled.

"It's time I got a brother who won't stab me in the back" Sonic retorted.

"I hate you."

"I hate you more." Another staring contest occurred for several long seconds before the hedgehog closed his eyes, looked away, spun of his heel and headed for the door.

"Hey, we're not done yet" the fox shouted as the blue Mobian opened the door.

"Yes I am. I'm not sleeping here with you like this" he replied not even turning back as he did. He then walked out the door and into the middle of the clearing with Tails staying at the door.

"Things get too real for the great Sonic the Hedgehog and he does what he does best, run away. But where will you run to?"

Sonic stopped in the clearing's middle and spun on his toes so that he was facing the fox. "If you must know Amy offered me her sofa bed because unlike you I still have friends."

"Keep them. You always need people to survive even back when you were little."

This shocked the hedgehog a little. "How do you know that?"

The mechanic folded his arms smugly. "I pried a little. But I don't need anyone, I can exist by myself."

"If you believe that then you really aren't as smart as you think you are" Sonic replied pointed at his former friend.

"You do know that the sofa literally has your name on it."

Usually signs of just how much Amy adored him put him off seeing her but tonight was different. "Still beats being here. But don't get too lonely, I'll be back when you realise I'm right to get my apology so things can get back to how they should be."

The hedgehog's trademark cockiness did nothing more than rub Tails up the wrong way. "You know what, don't bother. I'm evicting you."

"You're evicting me?"

"It means I'm kicking you out" Tails said in a condescending tone which just annoyed the speedster.

"I know what it means Tails. Just wondering why you can evict me because I'm older."

"Look again Sonic, you're not. Besides this is Tails' workshop so technically it's mine and I don't want you near it. Come back tomorrow to get your stuff and your plane then stay out of my life."

Sonic thought for a second. "No, you keep the Tornado so every time you look at it I want you to remember were you got it and how I made you."

"That's it. You're stuff is now mine so I can destroy it when I think of you" he growled.

"Fine. I've got everything I really need on me" he replied flippantly. "Gloves, shoes, socks and the Chaos Emerald" he said pulling the azure gem out from his quills.

"How'd the...?" Tails started before he remember that the hedgehog had pulled out the jewel from the closet before they left for Station Square. He must have had it with him the entire time. "Give me the emerald Sonic" he demanded.

"I'd like to but finders keepers."

"I said give me it" he shouted only for Sonic to shake his head. This made the fox go berserk. "Sonic!"he shouted as he lunged at the hedgehog. Just as he was on him though Sonic made his move.

"Chaos Control" he shouted, surrounding him in a green light. Tails jumped at the speedster but ended up hitting nothing but the floor.

Staying on all fours, the fox clenched his fist. "_He left me for good this time_" he thought. When he first started travelling with the hedgehog Tails was always scared that one day he would wake up and find that his hero had dumped him like garbage. It never happened and over time he knew that it just wouldn't happen. Until know.

Picking himself up the fox walked back to the workshop in silence, went inside, closed the door, locked it and lent his back against it before he slid down the floor with his knees against his chest and his namesakes curled around him. He looked at the now lifeless living room. "_This place looks bigger with only one resident_."He then felt something wet hit his arm, reaching up to face to find that tears were pouring out of his face. Whether they were tears of sorrow or frustration he didn't know, but he did know that this time there would be no blue streak with a concerned look on his face asking 'what was wrong', not anymore.

For the first time since he met Sonic, Miles Prower felt truly alone.

* * *

><p>"<em>I need to find a way to put traps in the sky<em>" Knuckles thought. He had just arrived back at the ruins where his charge, the Master Emerald, was. The sight of the giant gem's glow did soothe him a little as it always did after he'd been away from it but he was still troubled.

He'd seen Sonic and Tails fight before and had even found himself in the middle of a few of them somehow but even he could tell that this one was big and it could take a while. That's why he mentally vowed not to leave the island until he received word that they'd put it behind them, but with Tails' 'new' attitude it could some time. A few days, a month or so maybe even years if they were really being stubborn. "_Kid needs a better role model_" shot though his mind to which he nodded at.

Worse part in his eyes was that he was counting on the fox give him a lift back to the island after settling the score with the EggRobos but he dashed off after saying he hated everyone. This caused him to have to get a ride with G.U.N. with Shadow's permission, a big gamble since the Ultimate life form was hard to read at the best of times, but then he had to wait for the military to clean up the destroyed robots which took some time. Afterwards he had decided to glide back to the emerald after they were close enough because he didn't fully trust them. The silver lining for this experience was that he now knew how Rouge and Eggman kept reaching the Master Emerald despite all the traps he had set up. "_I should've thought of this before, now all I need is Tails to get back into his right mind and make some aerial traps_."

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a cry coming from above. Looking up he saw something falling from the sky heading towards the forest in front of him. The object looked like a blue blur and he recognised the voice, Sonic. "_What's he doing here? I didn't hear the Tornado_" he thought as the hedgehog hit the ground, followed by a few trees his impact brought down. The Guardian closed his eyes and sighed. "_Better see if he's alright. If I'm lucky maybe he'll have damaged the part of brain that controls that smart mouth of his_."

With that he dashed off at his own impressive pace. It wasn't a long distance at all; the first fallen tree he had to jump over was just thirty seconds after he started, so he quickly found the crater that the speedster had made. In the middle was Sonic's body trying to pull his head out from the ground. "_How high up was he?_" he wondered as the hedgehog was finally able to free his head from its earthy prison.

"I've really got to stop doing that" Sonic muttered to himself, thinking back to when he jumped off the Egg Carrier to get Eggman only to miss and fall to the ground and when the doctor jettisoned him into space after he first acquired his werehog form. He then found the light blue Chaos Emerald he had with him on the ground. "Good thing I didn't lose this. Last thing I want now is another lecture from Knuckles about how I need to take better care of the emeralds."

"Nice to know that they're starting to sink in Sonic" the echidna spoke up, making the hedgehog jump a little.

"Hey Knuckles. Sorry about the mess" he said turning to face his host.

He shrugged his shoulders. "For you, this is quite tame. But where did you fall from?"

"Sky Sanctuary" Sonic replied casually.

"What were you doing at Sky Sanctuary?" Knuckles asked sternly. The sanctuary was a floating garden that was quite some height above the rest of island despite being technically part of it. The Guardian didn't go there often as the only way to get there was a teleport gem, left over echidna technology, and it was not close to the Mater Emerald. The only he went there was to pick the fruit from the number of fruit trees that are planted there but since it reminded him of his fight with the Sonic robot that kept draining the Master Emerald's power in order to go super he never stayed too long.

"I used Chaos Control to come here but I ended up there so I decided to jump down."

"You... jumped down" the echidna said, one eye open wider than the other showing that he couldn't comprehend what his friendly rival had done. Not the first and likely far from the last.

"I didn't know how high up it is" he said with his hands behind his head before he quickly added "You know, when compared to island."

"That's not the point" the Guardian shouted, the hedgehog's ignorance for the actual issue starting to play on his short temper. "You know that you're not that great at using Chaos Control to teleport. You could have missed the island completely and end up in the sea!"

"And no one is as relieved that didn't happen than me" he answered.

Knuckles put his face in his palm and sighed. "You're impossible."

"I know."

"So, how did it go with Tails?"

The hedgehog's face darkened at his question. "It's over" he said quietly, closing his eyes as he did.

"So soon?" Knuckles replied, surprised. "I didn't think you'd make up for a long while."

"We didn't make up Knuckles, we broke up."

"What do you mean?"

Sonic's eyes opened slowly as he looked the Guardian in the eye. "I no longer have brother."


	7. Like Brother Like Brother

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 7: Like Brother Like Brother**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Knuckles was shock after what his faster than sound friend had told him. "_He doesn't have a brother_!" he mentally echoed. "What happened?"

"He said some things, I said some things, in the end we decided to end our friendship and hate each other" Sonic said with a blank expression and matching tone.

"What did you?" the echidna asked quickly. In Knuckles' logic most problems stemmed from Sonic in some way, shape or form and the hedgehog knew it. Any other night he would have shrugged it off with some witty comeback. Tonight he was not in the mood.

"You think everything is my fault" he shouted, pointing his finger in an accusatory manner. "You'd blame the recession on me if you could!"

"Don't think I've tried" he cut in quickly.

The hedgehog growled through gritted teeth, something he hadn't done since his werehog days. "I had just had lost my best friend and little brother and you blame me without a second thought. I was not the one who made someone homeless. All you had to do was go 'sorry, let's talk about like friends' but no, you can't because your head is full of the giant rock as usual" he exploded before turning on his heel. "I do you a favour and you go and do this" he said as he went marching off.

He didn't really get anywhere before the Guardian asked him a question that made him stop. "If you wanted that why come to me?

"Because I you're my closest guy friend now" he said without turning around, which caused him to miss the look of horror which was on the echidna's face before he regained his composure.

"You're not gonna make me your best friend are you?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to make the stupid mistake of having a best friend again."

"_It's that bad_?" Knuckles thought as the hedgehog got further way. "_If he uses the Chaos Emeralds like this it'll be a disaster and I don't know when we may need Super Sonic again. Plus I sort of feel bad for them. Curse you hedgehog, you and the fox have made me soft_." He quickly caught up to the grumbling speedster. "Sonic wait. I'm sorry okay; I didn't know that you were in that kind of mood. You really need to talk to someone before you do something stupid, -er than usual."

This got Sonic to stop. "Why do you suddenly care now? How does how I feel tie in to keeping your rock safe?"

"First off, the Master Emerald is not just some rock. And if you must know if your negative mood and chaos energy mix it would be Prefect Chaos all over again." The hedgehog just glared at the Guardian out of the corner of his eye. "And I know what it's like to lose your temper and do stupid things."

Sonic nodded his head in agreement. "That's what I thought, though if it was just that it would have a tossup between you and Shadow, and we haven't fought recently."

"Come on; let's head back to the shrine."

"Never far from your mind is it?"

"It's my duty to protect the Master Emerald" the echidna explained once again but his thoughts were more positive. "_Seems like he's lightening up a little_."

* * *

><p>"How to go about getting those shards of Time Eater's core?" Dr. Eggman thought out loud. He was back in his most secure base, the Lava Shelter which is built inside a volcano. His lava defences were active so for now it was near impossible for the government to get to him even if they knew where he was. He was in the control centre of the base, which was essentially a dark, metallic room with a number of large screens, a keyboard and chair the doctor designed to fit him comfortably. There are lights, but currently the only light in the room was coming from the screens.<p>

"I need a robot and strike now while Sonic and Tails are fighting, but I'm currently pulling in my resources since my last defeat." He thought back to his last big scheme, him and his past self piloting Time Eater, trapping Sonic and his friends in the white world and erasing his past defeats from existence. If it hadn't been for that hedgehog, his past self and the Chaos Emeralds he would have succeed. However the emeralds activated after all of Sonic's friend cheered him on.

"Perhaps their emotions were the key. If only I could harness the emeralds real powers instead of forcibility activating them, then I could complete my conquest of the world. Not that I can use that energy by myself. Although, there is my other creation I saved in the past. That would do the trick." He broke out into malicious laughter which slowly died down as a realisation dawned on him.

"I have to stop talking to myself before I look crazy. I'm beginning to remember why I created Orbot and Cubot, someone to listen to me. It would be better if I had someone else to think of ideas. Too bad the only person who can match my intelligence is me and I lack the means to travel in time again. If only there was someone else..."

An idea came to him. "Perhaps there is someone close to my talents." There was one person that had some mechanical ability and although they were enemies for the most part they did seem to well together when they had a common enemy that time. Even better was that he would be in a very sensitive state of mind, which was the only reason that this plan even had a chance of working, but if it did the devastation it would cause his nemesis made him grin. "I understand your pain Tails, Sonic's been a thorn in my side even long that he has yours. Get ready to get your revenge against him and the world with the power of the shards in your possession."

He broke out into evil laughter again but he got to his feet and headed to the room's exit. "I hope the third member of this alliance is ready" he mumbled on his way out.

After he left another voice came from the shadows. "It's a good thing Eggy loves the sound of his own voice. If not I'd have to hack into his systems and while it would be more entertaining it would also be more work." The voice was coming from a figure sitting on a ledge in the shadows above the computer. She was Mobian bat with white fur, black wings on her back and green eyes with blue, painted eyelids. She wore long white gloves with purple cuff, black skin tight one piece with her chest being covered by a section looking like a purple heart and over the top of them knee high white, heeled boots with a purple heart at the ends of them. This was the G.U.N. spy and treasure hunter Rouge the Bat who was currently on a mission to spy on Eggman.

"It sounds like something happened between Big Blue and the little cutie. Must be big if Eggman thinks he can split the pair up. But if he' planning to bring back that machine that froze me in time there's gonna trouble. H.Q. has to know about this" she said raising her glove to her mouth.

* * *

><p>"And that's when I used Chaos Control to try and get here" Sonic said, finishing his recount of his and Tails' fight to Knuckles. The hedgehog was sitting on the top step of the shrine while the echidna was standing behind him, his arms folded. The blue Mobian had calmed down some more during the story and was now picking out a part that he really regretted. "I told him that I never needed him, my former best bud. Who does that?"<p>

"Apparently you" the red Mobian replied flatly. "Why did you say that?"

"Because it's true" was his first answer but the unwavering stare the Guardian was giving him forced him to change his answer. "Because I... I... was hurting by finding out that he didn't need me so I wanted to make him feel the same way" he said with a sigh. "What's wrong with me?"

Knuckles bit back the 'apart from what's usually wrong with you' comment that flashed through his head. "You were trying to outdo him as you usually do only this time Tails was also trying to outdo you."

"Being a teenager must've messed up his head, he wasn't like this before."

"Or being around you did."

"Knuckles, you already tried to blame me" Sonic moaned with half closed eyes.

"Yeah, but that one was habit. This time it's actually is your fault" Knuckles explained. "Well, Tails' to, but mostly you into making him like what he is now."

The hedgehog shot onto his feet after hearing this, the fury clear on his face. "I made him that anti-social jerk who hates everyone."

The Guardian didn't flinch at this; part of him saw something like this happening. "He got your stubborn streak, your inability to do what you're told and your wanting not to be told what to do."

"What?"

"From what you told me, the both of you basically mirrored each other. He said he didn't need you, you said you never needed him. He told you that you were threatened by him, you said that he should burn in an orphanage for some reason. I don't get that one."

"He did" the speedster interjected.

"You left, he evicted you. You took the Chaos Emerald, he said he was going to destroy your things."

"He won't" Sonic interjected again.

"The point is," Knuckles said raising his voice to stop the hedgehog from adding anymore comments, "that you are his role model and big brother"

"Former big brother."

"You want me to finish?" The blue Mobian nodded his head and made a motion that looked like he was zipping his lips close. "Good. Now then, you are his role model and former big brother so of course he's going to copy you. I just wish he could've copied your better traits."

"Really? I didn't notice" Sonic stated.

"Of course you didn't. You were with Tails everyday so you couldn't tell the difference. I could though. I remember that when I first met you two..." he was cut off by his friend.

"When you tried to kick us off the island because Eggman told you we were thieves even though Eggman was planning on stealing the Master Emerald all along."

"Yes, that" Knuckles replied in an annoyed tone. "He seemed shy and quiet but before he became your age he was joking and a lot chatty that what he used to be."

The hedgehog's eyes widened in realisation. "You're right. He got that from me? But that means..." His pupils shrunk in horror as his head started to face the ground. "I did this. I ruined him."

"To an extent."

"Then even if I wanted to I couldn't go back."

"What?" the Guardian asked, deadpanned. "_He should be bettering himself so that he could go back and make up, not keeping his distance. Why must you make everything so difficult Sonic?_"

"I always knew that bring Tails with me all those years ago would not a smart thing to do but now I know that the worse thing for Tails is me."

"Sonic, that's not what I was saying..."

The hedgehog cut him off. "Maybe not, but thanks for telling me anyway" he said with a very forced small grin.

The echidna's expression turned deadly serious as he grabbed Sonic by the shoulders. "Listen to me Sonic. Friendship is not my speciality but even I know that this is a mistake. Down there is fox who is not in his right mind and will need someone to help him from not doing anything stupid, something else he gets from you, and you're just going to leave him?"

The speedster knocked Knuckles hands off him with a little bit of a struggle. "If I really care for him, then I can't care." He then took out his emerald. "See ya later Knuckles. Chaos..."

"_He can't go now! Never thought I'd ever think that_" shot through the red Mobian's mind. He extended a palm towards his own emerald to the side of him and started the fasted recital of Tikal's prayer ever attempted. "The servers are the seven chaos, chaos is power enriched by the heart..."

...Control!" Sonic finished before Knuckles could stop the gem from activating. With a green light that blocked his vision the blue Mobian was gone.

Knuckles then cried out in frustration as he twisted his body to hit the object closest to him, but his fist stopped an inch away from that object which was the Master Emerald. He took a deep breath and sighed as he walked away from his charge and towards the crater Sonic caused by falling out of the sky. "Now I really can't leave the island until this is over" he grumbled to himself. "Can't believe Tails would do any favours for the guy who convinced his brother to give up on him even if wasn't my point. Maybe smashing those fallen trees will help me cool off a little."

* * *

><p>"Don't do it Romeo, she's not really dead" Amy Rose cried out to the TV in front of her. She was wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown and matching red slippers. After dropping off Cream and hoping that Vanilla could do a better job of reassuring the young rabbit than she could the pink hedgehog had decided to watch a televised version of Romeo and Juliet and like always envisioned Sonic and herself as the main characters. Amy's apartment was a decent size with the living room and kitchen in the main area and a separate bedroom and bathroom with both a bath and shower. Surprisingly only the bedroom walls were pink as she felt that if she made it too girly then Sonic would never come round, but that hadn't stopped her from buying pink sofa bed or from knitting a throw for the sofa which had many love hearts, many pictures of Sonic and his name in blue wool several times.<p>

She heard a knock at the door. "_Who would that be at this time? If it's some creep out for money or worse they better get ready to meet my hammer_" she thought as went to answer the door, getting ready to summon her hammer at a moment's notice. However when she opened the door, her face lifted and her heart raced.

"Sonic!" she squealed, cupping her hands together. After she got over the initial elation of Sonic's presence Amy got a better look at her blue love and her expression turned into a concerned one.

"Are you okay Sonic?" she asked. The speedster looked broken, eyes pointed towards the floor and his back slumped.

"Sorry to call in so late" he started quietly with a forced smirked. "Is that sofa bed still free?"

"Of course, anything for you. What happened between you and Tails?"

The blue hedgehog walked inside and plonked himself down on the sofa, Amy following him.

"Was it bad?" she asked worriedly.

"He hates me."

"You know that teenagers always say things they don't mean."

"But he doesn't need me even if it wasn't true."

"_So that's what this is about_" she thought as he said that. "_My Sonic was always so protective of Tails and now he claims that he doesn't need him_."

"I can't understand how you're feeling but one day Cream maybe the same with me so I can understand why this happened."

"Thanks, but I said some things too so I think it's over for good" he said with a sigh. "He kicked me out.

The pink hedgehog couldn't help but let out a gasp. "Oh, Sonic" she said as she put wrapped her arms around his body.

"But he only did it because I was going to leave him to calm down for a few days."

"You boys, trying to look stronger than each."

"And that's the problem. He's not like that, or he shouldn't be at least."Amy looked confused at this statement. Sonic saw this. "I made Tails from a kind hearted genius to a moody jerk."

"That's not your fault..."

"It is, Knuckles said so."

"Since when do you listen to anything Knuckles says?"

"Since he started making sense."

"Doesn't that mean the world will end?" Amy said jokingly.

"Maybe" he said with a little laugh. "Thanks Amy."

"For what?"

"For being there when I needed you."

The pink hedgehog had to hold back a squeal. "My pleasure."

* * *

><p>Tails slammed the picture frame in his hands down on the counter so that the picture was face down. "<em>That should be the last one. Why do I have so many pictures of him<em>?" He had gone around making sure that he couldn't see Sonic's face, or his own. The happy expression on their faces cut into him but he was at the end of that task, ending up in the bedroom.

He slipped off his shoes and got into the bed before he remembered he had one last picture, this one in his tails. It was one that was taken not long after the Chaos incident, they had gone for ice cream in Central City as he had badgered Sonic to take him to the capital and Amy had also volunteered to go. The picture was basically both of them mid-laugh and they looked alike in a sense without physically like each other, like they were real brothers. It was his favourite picture, or was.

"_I better tear this up before it haunts me_" he thought, putting his hand at the top and bottom of the photo as if to rip it up but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He could feel his eyes getting watery again. "_Why can't I do it? Why? I must be frazzled from today's events. Maybe I need some rest. Tomorrow is another day_."

He got into bed, trying not to think about how empty the place felt now. "_The first day of my live without that blue back stabbing... him_!"


	8. Dreams of Dissolution

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 8: Dreams of Dissolution**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Fire everywhere. It was the only thing he could through the smoke which was making his onyx eyes water. The only thing Miles cared about at the moment was reaching his room and retrieving his most prized possession, a working model of the Tornado. He had made it himself in honour of his idol, Sonic the Hedgehog. He had come out of nowhere but his single handed victory over the evil scientist Dr. Robotnik, who had launched a fierce offensive on Green Island in a bid to conquer it, had made him a house hold name.

Although everyone saw him as a hero the kit saw him as an example to follow. The hedgehog was just like him, different. How many blue hedgehogs could there be out there and how many could run at the speed of sound? But he was nationally loved and respected, and he oozed cool so in that case he was the exact opposite to him.

Young Miles Prower was orphaned at a very young age, his memory of his parents was next to nonexistent, and so he was raised at Emerald Hill orphanage. However even at four years old he knew the awful truth; no one cared about him just because he was born with two tails. He was alone in the world, so if this rash action of going into the burning orphanage to get his model was the last thing that he ever did, no one miss him and there would be no funeral or gravestone. It would be like Miles Prower never existed.

His twin tails whirling behind him the fox narrowly missed being hit by a piece of burning debris as he rounded the corner to his room. It was the most distance one away from the entrance/exit, an excuse not to see him as much as the others.

"You're alright, mostly" Miles said to his model as he found it. Although there was a little fire damage it had come out relatively unscathed. The round human doctor at appeared out of the blue and attacked everything in zone so the orphanage had been evacuated but he had gone back in to get the Tornado model. No one had stopped him.

Holding it close to him, but not too close as it was hot and the only thing saving him from a burn was his gloves. As he turned to leave though he came face to face with a robot shaped like a bee, but instead of a stinger on its tail it had a cannon which started to charge as they made eye contact. The kit's interest with mechanics had led him to look into various types of robots employed by Robotnik so he instantly recognised the machine as a Buzzbomber. Before he could do anything it fired.

* * *

><p>Tails bolted upright in bed, checking himself for any wounds. He didn't find any injuries but discovered several other things. First off, he was in his workshop in the Mystic Ruins far away from those accursed hills. Second, he was not four but sixteen years old and defeating a Buzzbomber would be easier than flying the Tornado. Thirdly, despite his urge to go into Sonic's room and talk about that nightmarish memory he knew that his fallen idol would not be there.<p>

"_Oh yeah, he left me just like everyone else_" he thought as he collapsed onto his back. "_Only difference is that it took him five years for his true feelings to come out whereas those creeps at Emerald Hill were straight with me since day one_." His troubled mood wiped out the thought of going to sleep, bedsides it wasn't like him to waste the day in bed even if keeping the world safe was the last thing on his mind.

Deciding that the best way to start a new day was a shower to rinse off all of his frustration at the hedgehog but since he had to past his vacant room on the way to the bathroom it did nothing but flare up the fox's temper. He was used to seeing the room empty, Sonic had a habit of dashing off with little more than a "see you later" but now it seemed hollow, as if the life in it had been drained. Tails slammed the door closed. "_I could do with a study_" he thought as got into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

The hot water was relaxing and the fact that there was no chance of any big brothers pour buckets of cold water over him while he's getting clean, that thought made him grin. But it wasn't long before his thoughts turned to his dream, or maybe a memory would be a better term for it. Any day before yesterday he would have called it sacred but it was still one life changing day regardless. It was the day he met Sonic, but his dream was significantly lacking in blue speedsters. In the past he didn't get hit by that Buzzbomber as the hedgehog intervened but this was a dream, not the past after all.

"_If this is my subconscious' way of telling me that I miss Sonic I'm not buying it_" he mentally denied before his expression drooped. "_If I back down now he'll always see me as some lost puppy always following him, waging my tail and not as a real person with his respect. That guy was always over the top with entrances but had no idea on how or when to make an exit_".

He soon got out and started to dry himself off. "_If he ever really cared about me then he'll simply have to get used to the fact that I'm a teenager now and can look after myself just like he did..._" He shook his head. "_...no, better than he did as I can't walk out on me._"

After he was dry, a task that was long enough before he aged and got even more fur, he went to put on some socks and gloves but found that all except the ones he wore yesterday were several sizes too small, causing him to frown. Grumbling to himself he stomped into the hedgehog's room and grabbed some of his attire which fit perfectly before marching back into his room, slamming doors as he went, to put his shoes on.

"_Now what should I do after breakfast?_" he thought. "_I'm not really in the mood to go into the city for supplies, that's where he is and Amy wouldn't be happy with seeing me either. Not in the mood to fly the Tornado either, his plane, so Knuckles is out and better if I stay away from Cream_."

He slumped and sighed. Being alone was quite lonely.

* * *

><p>"I hate paperwork" Shadow the Hedgehog muttered to himself under his breath as he walked down one of the metallic corridors of G.U.N. HQ. He had finished his report on yesterday's battle and was on his way to give it to the Commander. He did most of it last night but Commander Tower said that he wanted it tomorrow morning a.k.a. now as even he needs sleep to keep his mind focused.<p>

He rounded the corner into the control room, a large room with lots of screens and a large number of agents at desks monitoring them, just waiting for a threat to appear or an agent to report in. He was on a raised walkway which didn't go too far out into the room but gave the man who was standing there the perfect view to observe every screen in the room.

The human had grey hair and wore a navy suit with a blue and red strip around the cuff of his jacket sleeves and a blue strip running down his trousers' legs. The most curious thing about him was that his left eye was green and his right eye was brown, why this was Shadow didn't know and too be honest he wasn't about to ask. This was G.U.N.'s leader Commander Abraham Tower who not too long ago would not be seen anywhere near Shadow with a gun in his hand due to a past that they shared together, although the black hedgehog forced out the thoughts of his past as soon as they entered his mind.

"_No, I vowed to put my past behind me_" he mentally reminded himself before an image of a human girl with blue eyes and blonde hair who was wearing a blue dress entered his mind but he closed his eyes tightly. "_Even you Maria but I will continue to protect this world like you wanted_."

He noticed that the Commander was standing up instead of sitting on his chair at the end of the walkway which meant that he was tense. Something was going on. "Commander Tower, I've finished my report" he said, causing the human to turn around and take the file in Shadow's hands.

"Good work Agent Shadow but there is no time to rest" he replied, turning his attention back on the many screens the room. "I'll need you to remain on standby."

"What's going on Sir?"

Abraham let out a mute sigh before talking. "We received word from Rouge that Dr. Eggman is planning to obtain the shards of Time Eater's core that Tails recovered yesterday."

"I doubt the doctor will have anything to combat the fox and blue hedgehog on such short notice."

"Usually I would agree but Eggman is also planning to ask Tails to join him in his global conquest."

The black hedgehog raised an eye ridge. "A bold move, but not a smart one. There's no way that Tails would agree, Sonic would make sure of that."

"Not anymore" he replied bluntly. "We took your suggestion to send a surveillance drone to the Mystic Ruins and monitored the situation."

Trying not to think what would happen if Sonic ever found that he was the one to suggest that, the Ultimate Life form pressed for more answers. "What happened?"

"Long story short the pair decided to end their friendship and Tails had distanced himself from everybody else. We think that there is high probability that Miles Prower will defect to opposing team if we let this happen."

"What do you propose we do?"

"My plan is take Mr. Prower into custody before Eggman can get to him."

Shadow stayed silent as he thought this over. After a few seconds he spoke again. "Is there no other way that we can prevent that situation?"

"You have something in mind?" he asked despite already knowing the answer.

"If I can convince Sonic to go back to Tails then the odds of Tails defecting become very low."

"You think you can do that?"

"I'm not sure but I'm willing to try. All I need is temporary access to our Chaos Emerald" he said, the determination clear in his eyes.

"This is not like you Shadow" the human commented.

"I think that if you have something like that you should do everything to not lose it. You'll regret it if it goes."

A moments silence passed. "Alright, permission granted but tell Sonic that I'm giving him thirty minutes before we launch our troops."

"Understood Sir, thank you" Shadow said before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Sonic is at Amy Rose's apartment" Commander Tower shouted, getting a raised hand as a reply.

"_Maria, give me the strength to endure a conversation with that blue buffoon_" the black Mobian mentally pleaded to his deceased best friend.

* * *

><p>Fire everywhere. It was the only thing he could through the smoke which was making his onyx eyes water. As much as his head was screaming to turn around and get out of here his heart was louder so the hedgehog continued his pursuit of the fox that had dashed in here. "Kid, where are you" he shouted before the smoke made him cough.<p>

"_Setting fire to an orphanage Robotnik_?" Sonic thought. "_That's just cold. Why couldn't you have done this to the one in Green Hill? Although, from what I saw back there they deserved it_." The eleven year old hero had just had an encounter with the people running the place and since both them and the other orphans had told him not to waste his time saving that 'freak' as they had put it; they were just like the ones back where he grew up.

"_Different is bad until proven good_" he thought as the only attention he got from the carers were when he got into trouble, which was most of the time but now that he was renowned for defeated the crazed scientist everyone was singing a very different tune. The only reason he was able to acquire the Tornado when he did was due to his fame, and the fact that he told the junk dealers who gave it to him that he needed in case Robotnik ever came back which he hoped was never.

If hadn't seen that fox dash in here then he mostly likely would not be able walk out in one piece. Still, despite looking young the kid did seem to be going at a decent speed which at his standard was rare. He shouted for him again, no reply again. "_Please be okay_".

His heart stopped when he saw a Buzzbomber facing a room at the far end of the hall with its cannon ready to fire. "_This looks like a job for my new and improved Spin Dash_" he thought, curling into a ball and pinning but not dashing, instead just revving up. After a few revs he shot forward, tearing through the robot easily before uncurling and checking the room. His colourless eyes met with those of another Mobian's, a fox with orange fur with a tuff of white with gloves, socks and sneakers the same colour as his only in a different style.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, happy to see that the fox was not harmed. "Are you okay?"

Before he could say anything the kit's eyes widen at something behind the hedgehog who found himself flung into the air and slammed into the far wall. After sliding to the floor and getting to his knees, the speedster finally got a good look at his attack but it caused his jaw to drop. It was another fox who looked almost exactly the same as the one he was saving only older. "Hey, what was that for?"

"I told you already, I don't need you and now I never will or would have" the older fox replied before he curled into his own spin dash and barrelled into the hedgehog, forcing him into the wall again.

Green eyes opened and Sonic got to his feet, the room looking smaller than it did before. "Who would really suffer here, me or you?" he shot back. "Weren't you the one fretting over time paradoxes back in the white world?" he said, remembering that due to his love of sci-fi Tails was convinced that a paradox would occur eventually. He blamed that doctor show for this thought.

"I'm saving myself some heartache. Besides, you said that you never needed me so by that logic you wouldn't miss me" older Tails sneered while little Tails looked afraid.

"What? That can't be!" In that second four year old Tails ended up being replaced by eight year old Tails. "Sonic would never..."

"He would" his older self replied. The younger fox looked between the two, his eyes full with worry before he slowly slinked towards the older fox, giving the hedgehog an apologetic look.

Sonic's look turned into one of despair before one of anger. "I won't let you steal my little bro from me again" he shouted before dashing towards big Tails, his fist raised. However, when he was in range the fox swept his namesakes at the hedgehog's feet, causing him to fall over. Before he went down to far the fox stuck his elbow into the speedster's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Before Sonic could react Tails then jumped up and slammed both feet into his skull, sending flying into the wall for the third time.

"I've seen you fight so many times that I can calculate what you're most likely to do, even with your wild fighting style" he replied before Sonic started to charge at him again. The fox then grabbed his younger self and jumped backwards through the doorway and swiped his tails at it, breaking the frame and causing the room to cave in. As the hedgehog was nearly at the door only his lower half got crushed by the debris, unable to get free. He kept extending towards his best friend.

"Tails. Tails."

"Time to go little me" the older fox said to the kit before he spin dashed through the wall to the outside, causing the rate of collapse to increase but the speedster kept trying to reach the younger Tails despite the fact that he couldn't move.

"Don't go Tails. Please, don't leave me."

"I'm sorry Sonic" he said with real remorse. "I guess in the end, you just couldn't save me." With that he followed his older self's example and left, causing the whole building to fall in on itself.

The hedgehog curled his fists as he called his brother's name; tears starting to form and roll down his cheeks. "Tails, Tails, Tails!"

"Sonic wake up!"

* * *

><p>With that Sonic found himself back in Amy's apartment, his hostess looming over him with a look of concern. Before he could say anything the female hedgehog had her hands wrapped around him. "Oh Sonic, I was so worried when you started shouting and crying in your sleep." The blue hedgehog touched his cheek and found that it was wet, feeling a little embarrassed that he had done that in front Amy.<p>

"Sorry Amy. I just had the worst nightmare..."

"What was it?" she asked almost instantly, cutting off Sonic's attempt to avoid it.

He took a deep breath before he started explaining. "In a nutshell, Tails now stopped me from saving Tails when I first met him and took him way while collapsing the building we were in on top of me."

Amy looked a little lost at this. "How would Tails bring down a building? He's not that strong."

"It was coming down anyway."

"It was? Now that I think of it, I don't know how you met Tails or anything about your past" she commented, causing the speedster to stiffen a little.

"That's not something I'd like to think about" he said quietly before the girl took his hands.

"You can tell me, I won't tell anyone else if you don't want me to" she said, her pleading eyes looking straight into his.

"_Come on, it's Amy_" he mentally berated himself. "_I know that she wouldn't say anything, it would hurt her chances of marrying me according to her. And she did let me stay, but I..._"

"I know it's not happy" she said, snapping Sonic out of his line of thought, slightly shocking him.

"Was it that easy to tell?"

"A little, but I mostly know because of the cards."

It took Sonic a second to remember that Amy was very good with tarot cards, something that she didn't do as much anymore and apparently that was how she found out that they were 'supposed' to be together.

"Please Sonic. When we get married you'll tell me anyway. This way we'll save time."

Although the blue hedgehog tried his best not to let his face fall at this statement, it did remind him why he didn't spend more time with her and why he forgot the other hedgehog's talent.

He sighed before he made his decision. "Okay, fine. But this says between me, you and Tails as he already knows."

She nodded her head, excited that her love was finally opening up o him. However neither of them was aware of the figure outside the front door listening on their conversation.

As Sonic started, a black furred ear twitched.


	9. How I Met my Brother

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 9: How I Met my Brother**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

The air in room suddenly became tense as Sonic agreed to tell Amy his past and how he met Tails. The normally excitable girl hedgehog was hanging on his every breath, especially the big one the speedster before he began.

"Now, where to start..." the blue hedgehog thought out loud.

"How about at the beginning, Green Hill" she suggested.

It was common knowledge that he hailed from Green Hill on South Island, although its alternate name of Christmas Island was becoming better known. That name came from the beautiful views it get in the Christmas season. It may attract tourist but would it take Armageddon to make him go back there.

"Fine then. I never knew my parents; I know something happened to them back when I was very young so I don't know anything else about them. Like all kids in that situation I was sent to the local orphanage where I didn't really fit in."

"Why not?"

"I'm a blue hedgehog who runs at the speed of sound, even I know that's not normal" he pointed out. "Everyone there was quick to remind me of that. The carers there just ignored me, said that it was better if they didn't bother with me."

"That's awful."

"I know. I didn't let them though; I got attention and not the good kind. I was trouble maker. I never did anything too bad, just a few pranks but the other kids didn't really like it. But there were two people who I hung around with, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel."

"Wait, I've heard those names somewhere" Amy thought out loud before it came to her. "They are the ones on that missing poster they have all over Station Square. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Not really my loss" he replied casually. "We lost contact a while ago, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, they were basically like me. Or Mighty was, being about as strong as Knuckles is while Ray sort of latched onto him because he had a few confidence issues."

"Sort of like you and Tails" the younger Mobian said before she realised what she said. "Sorry it just came out."

Sonic's face darkened for a few seconds. "It's cool. I have get used to it some time, right?" he replied with a weak smile.

Amy just nodded. "_Oh Sonic, why must you act so tough? I know what you're really feeling. So are you really being tough for me, or for you_?"

"So anyway, I had some friends and went it came to sports I ruled. But I felt like the third wheel around Mighty and Ray. I know we were friends and that they had my back but if we had to chose one person to work with on something they would pick each other in a heartbeat. So all I really had were my dreams of freedom. Sneaking out was easy, I wasn't missed but every time I tried to make a break for it they would talk me out of it. One time I actually did but the police brought me back. Made it all the way to the Labyrinth Zone before all the water caused me to stop and I ended up back in the orphanage before I knew it."

"Is that why you're afraid of water?" Amy asked.

"No" Sonic replied, shaking his head. "That's because I almost drown once and Ray ended up saving me because Mighty was too far away and no one else would."

The female hedgehog's face showed a sorrowful expression. "_He went through all that and he still became a hero. Oh Sonic, I'm sorry for bringing it up_."

"Don't worry Amy, I came over all that a while ago" the speedster said as if he had red her mind. His would-be girlfriend then threw her arms around his chest and lent her head against it with no objection from Sonic.

"You can stop now if it's too painful."

"Nah. I guess it's nice to get it off my chest. You sure you want me to go on?" She nodded her head.

"Okay then. Things were looking bleak but then it got better for me when it got worse for everyone else, when animal were going missing and being shoved into robots."

Amy knew what it meant, the whole world had heard of that event. "When Eggman first appeared."

"Right, back when people called him his real name, Dr. Robotnik. I don't really know why he started to take over the world but he did. I trashed my first 'bot thinking it some dummy."

* * *

><p>As he explained it to his want-a-be lover Sonic was reliving that time in his head. Back then ten year old Sonic was storming off from his forced home after another bad day. "I hate them, all of them. Where were my friends when I need them? Not there as usual. Grr, that's it. I'm gone for good this time."<p>

In his bad mood he had broke out of the orphanage heading for town with no intention of stopping. He saw an oversized metal ladybird in his path and thought it must have some form of art which he didn't understand. Normally he wouldn't have paid it any heed but he was ticked and needed to let out that rage. Picking up speed he curled into a ball and barrelled through it with his 'spin dash' as he called it. But when he saw a feral bird among its remains. "Okay, how'd you get in there" he asked the bird, which he knew was called a Flicky although he wasn't expecting an answer. After a few chirps it flew off leaving the little hedgehog confused.

"That was odd. Who made this... whatever this is?" he wondered before shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever, I'm bailing" he said to himself before he dashed away at a relatively slow speed for him, hoping to get on last look at the area before he left. To be honest he liked Green Hill, it had lots of sun, a nice view of the ocean (something that appealed to other people more than him) and it had lots of wide open space for him to run in. His issue came from the people who lived there. He knew that there were some good people in here somewhere but he couldn't find them. However, as the town came into view the hedgehog's eyes widened.

Robots everywhere, destroying buildings and going after fleeing citizens. Sonic noticed that there were five types of robot: the one that he smashed before, a flying one which looked like bee, one which looked like a crab, a lizard one which kept turning invisible and a fish one with lots of teeth in the water. Any resistance was swept away by the overwhelming numbers of the machines; even the authorities were useless before them. It made the speedster sick.

"_What on Mobius is going on? Where did all these robots come from?_" His thoughts were interrupted when a pair of the bee-like robots and a crab one came up and started to attack. Using his speed none of their attacks reached him, even when the crab one started shooting missiles from its pincers which surprised him. Seeing his chance, the little hedgehog jumped into the air, curled into a ball and bounced off all three machines before landing. "_They weren't that hard to take care off, so why is everybody having such a hard time? Maybe I should give them a hand._"

"_Or maybe they are getting what they deserve_" crept into his head, the hedgehog's face hardening. After not moving for a second, Sonic turned on his heel and started walking in the opposite direction of the ruined town until he was on the opposite side of the hill he was on.

"You just left them!" Amy exclaimed back in the present.

A grin appeared on Sonic's face. "Amy, does that sound like me?"

A second later little Sonic dashed back towards town at a high speed, a determined look on his face. "_This is wrong. Sure there are people who deserve this but not everyone. There must be some good people who are getting hurt and kids who haven't done anything and that's not right. Also they will wreck this place, I guess. Seems like something they would do and I happen to like this place, so if I can do something I should_"

"I won't bore you with all the details but let's say that I kicked butt and the look of all those people who knew me as that 'little blue demon' still makes me smile" Sonic said, skipping forward a little. "After I cleared out town I forced myself back to the orphanage to see if Mighty and Ray were okay but what I found was not what I wanted."

"No!" Sonic exclaimed as it came into his view. The orphanage was levelled, the whole building now jut a large pile of debris with no one in sight. He had dreamed of this moment, the moment where he would be no longer constrained to that wretched place but now that it was happening he felt awful. He collapsed onto his knees and his eyes started to water. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This can't be... everyone... if I were here you'd be..."

"They're still alive" an unfamiliar voice said behind him causing the speedster to get onto his feet and look at who it was. He found nothing but grass and a shadow which came from a grey flying chair holding an overweight human with a moustache but no other hair on his head. He was wearing red and a yellow cape as well as glasses over his eyes. He seemed to have an evil looking grin on his face.

"Who're you?" Sonic asked, doing his best to hold back any tears that were forming.

"I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, super genius and soon to be ruler of this island and the world" the man introduced himself. "The real question is who are you and why you are destroying my creations?"

"Creations? You mean those robots? There yours?" Robotnik nodded. "Why would you do this?"

"Why would I do this?" the human echoed. "I'm doing the world a favour by taking it over. Technology will rule and everyone will serve me as robots or as power sources for my robots."

The animals he found after trashing the robots blazed into his mind. "Then those animals in the robots..."

"Were powering them" the doctor finished for him. "You don't know what a great energy source draining life is."

"That's sick."

"But so are people" he shot back, causing Sonic to step back in response. "Despite all the children that were here you are the only one to even consider checking on them. I can only assume that you also must belong here. Do you really miss them?"

"Of course."

The human grinned. "All of them?"

The hedgehog's eyes widened in shock before his gaze averted towards the ground. "Well, not exactly. But that doesn't matter, what did you do to them?"

"If you must know they are part of the Mobians that I have captured for future use at the end of the zone. But what do you intent to do with that knowledge?"

Sonic clenched his hand. "I'm going to save them, that's what."

"Well, I guess I'll see you there providing you can make it." With that Robotnik's hover chair ascended and flew off towards the end of zone.

After a second to build his resolve, Sonic took off after him. "Get back here!"

* * *

><p>"I know it from here. You stopped him, saved Green Hill and brought down Eggman's plan all by yourself" Amy said. It was very common knowledge.<p>

"Pretty much, but this next bit is important. I'd just took down Eggman for the first time..."

* * *

><p>"Impossible, how could you defeat me!" Robotnik shouted for his now damaged chair, beneath it was a giant wrecking ball and a broken chain that once attached the ball to the chair.<p>

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "I hit you over and over again?"

"You... Who are you?" he demanded.

The hedgehog put his hands on hips and grinned. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Sonic, I'll remember that." His chair rose even higher into the air. "You may have won here but all the other zones on this island are even now falling to me. Enjoy your temporary victory Sonic the Hedgehog, it will not last long. I will make you pay for this!" With that starting heading towards the border of the zone, where Green Hill met Marble Garden.

As he did he pasted over a large grey contraption with a pedestal on the top. "Stop!" Sonic shouted as he chased after him, jumping on the grey machine in an attempt to stop the madman before he got away but narrowly missed him before his feet touched the ground again. "Darn, so close" he said snapping his fingers. Before he could set off though he heard a large crashing sound behind him, making him jump and turn around.

The sides of the grey thing had fallen off revealing the contents of that machine, the people he was looking for. "That's where they were" he said to himself. "So this is some kind of prison? Did I open it?" He then noticed that the top of it was lower than before. "He made a prison which can be opened by jumping on it? I thought a smart guy like him would have something harder, like a lock or something. Oh well, easier for me." He put his hands behind his head and despite the almost catastrophe that just happened the speedster couldn't stop smiling.

The captured citizens were pouring out now which the majority of them just shooting Sonic looks which just rolled off him. However there were two people who actually came up to him. The taller one of the pair was an armadillo with black fur and a red shell that started from the top of his eyes all down his back. His arms and stomach were cream, his hands were covered by white gloves and his shoes were the same as Sonic's. This was Mighty the Armadillo.

The smaller Mobian was a squirrel with yellow fur who had some extra skin under his arms and a long tail. Like Sonic his stomach was peach and his shoes were also the same as his two friends, them being the default ones given to children their age in the orphanage. This was Ray the Flying Squirrel.

The pair came running up to him. "Did you save us Sonic?" Ray asked.

"Looks like it" the hedgehog replied.

"Thanks Sonic. The others won't say it but they're grateful" Mighty reassured him, causing the Sonic to have a bored look on his face.

"Would it kill them to act like it then?"

"Come on, let's go back" the armadillo suggested. "They maybe more robots and they are not sneaking up behind me again."

The smirk reappeared on the speedsters face. "Already done."

"What?"

"Yeah, I saved the entire zone before I found you."

"Does that mean you're a hero Sonic?" the squirrel asked.

"I guess I am."

"Wow, I never expected you do save everyone" Mighty commented.

"Neither did I to be honest. Got caught up in the moment."

"Well, it's over now. Let's get back." The two Mobians started to walk off before Sonic spoke up.

"I'm not going" he said, causing his friends to look at him to see if he was joking. From the serious look in his eyes they knew he was not.

"Sonic, you can't be serious!" they both exclaimed.

"I am. This is chance I've been waiting for. The orphanage is rumble, everyone is panicked, it's the perfect time to sneak away and get the freedom we've always wanted."

"With that madman still out there?" Ray asked before latching himself to Mighty's arm and shaking his head.

"Sonic, this is crazy. It's too dangerous out there" the armadillo pointed out.

"Well, I saved here. I might as well save the rest of the island. Come with me" Sonic offered.

"Leave it to the police" Mighty suggested.

"The police were useless just like everyone else except me. I stopped him, I put my speed to good use and for the first time ever I felt like I was alive."

"Well, I don't want to go" Ray protested. "Do you Mighty?"

"No, this is insane Sonic. Just stay here..."

"Where everyone pretends I don't exist. Just because I saved everyone doesn't mean I cared for them. I was just trying to rescue you guys, everyone else were just in the same place."

"We're not leaving Sonic" the armadillo said in a serious tone of voice.

The hedgehog's face fell when he heard this. "I thought friends were supposed to stick together but now I really see it. You two never needed me, just each other. Well, that's fine. I'll go and stop Robotnik myself." He spun on his heel so that his back was facing them. "Good bye guys. Thanks for the fake happiness." With that he dashed off and out of Green Hill with his friends shouting at him to wait.

* * *

><p>Back in the present, Amy's grip on Sonic's body had tightened. "I'm so sorry to hear that Sonic. Did you ever see them again?"<p>

"No" Sonic lied, not mentioning the time when he had crashed the Tornado on an island that Robotnik had made his fortress where he found the pair who had been kidnapped as Robotnik though that the hedgehog would rescue them sooner, thinking them to be his weakness. By that time he had met Tails and Amy so he didn't feel the pull of friendship between him and them anymore.

"What about Tails?" she asked.

It took the speedster a few seconds to answer as thinking of the fox made him realise that what he said back then did sound a lot like what the fox had said to him the last time he saw him. "_The more I think about the more sense Knuckles made_."

"Sonic!"

He snapped back into reality. "Sorry Amy, just thinking about something. Okay, as you know it wasn't until Robotnik tried to take over the world the second time that I met Tails. This time he started on Westside Island and started in the way too similar Emerald Hill Zone. I'd got the Tornado cheap from some scrap dealers, practically free since I'd told them it was in case Robotnik came back but really I wanted to get off the island only to run into Robotnik again. After smashing most of the robots there I came across the orphanage just in time to see a kid running into the burning building and when I went in after them the people who were there told me not to waste my time saving him."

"Was the kid a fox per chance?" the female hedgehog asked.

"It's my memory so I'll tell it, but yeah. After scolding people who were a lot older than me about respect I dashed in afterwards only to find a Buzzbomber looking into the furthest room away with its cannon ready to fire. I smashed it of course before it could fire and found myself looking at the kid I was looking for..."

* * *

><p>Back in his head again the scene was replaying itself although it took some mental strength to keep his dream out of his head. "There you are. Are you okay?" The kit just looked at him, fixated on him. "Okay..." he said mostly to himself while rubbing his head, feeling uncomfortable in the kit's unmoving gaze.<p>

The younger Mobian then gathered up the courage to speak but only enough for one word. "You're..." He trailed off, unable to bring himself to say anymore.

The hedgehog just grinned. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Are you real?" the fox asked.

Sonic titled his head to the side in confusion. "Do I look like some fake to you?"

"I must be dreaming, there's no way the real Sonic would be here. He wouldn't want to save me."

"Really? I think I would. Now come on, we've got to go." He started to reach out to him but the kit's body tensed and his two tails wrapped around him. "Two tails?" The fox slowly nodded as his expression sank. Sonic could now guess what could've happened to him, having found himself in the same situation not too long ago.

"I'm a freak" he said to Sonic's shock but the hedgehog's reply surprised even himself.

"That's a lie and don't you let anyone tell you different!" He noticed the fox move back a little as he shouted. "Sorry, but it burns me up to hear anyone say that. No pun intended" he added as his eyes glanced around their burning surroundings.

"But that's what everyone else says..."

"Don't listen to them." He crouched down to the younger Mobian's eyes level. "Listen, I've been where you are."

The fox looked surprised. "You have? But you're so cool."

"Blue hedgehogs who run at the speed of sound aren't that common and this was before Robotnik. You can't let them get to you." The sound of falling debris suddenly got louder, making Sonic remember why he came in here. "Look, we have to go before this place falls on top of us." He stretched his arm out again. "You have no reason to trust me but I need you to, okay? I promise I won't do anything to hurt you."

After a few seconds to make up his mind, the fox shakily grabbed Sonic's hand. "Well, you are Sonic the Hedgehog, the greatest guy ever."

"I wouldn't say that, but now it's time to leave." With that Sonic took off at a decent pace pulling the kit along but the corridor floor caved in causing him to fall. Closing his eyes, he was surprised as he stopped falling and was not burning he opened them and looked up only to find that he was being suspended in the air by the fox was spinning his two tails around so quickly that he was flying.

"You can fly?"

"Sort of..." he replied quietly.

"Neat, I owe you one." Looking on ahead, Sonic realised that moving forward was not an option. Even if the kid could carry him all the way all the falling debris would make it near impossible for them to come out unscathed. "Back to your room, now!"

With a nod the kit did just that. Once they got back he suddenly remembered something. "Oh no, my model. I dropped it when I saved you. It was the reason I came in back in here."

"You came back in this burning building for a model?"

"It was a model of the Tornado that I made all by myself!" he shouted back.

"My plane? That Tornado?"

The fox's cheeks turned red. "Yeah, that. I've always liked planes and you're my hero Sonic so it made sense to show both of my likes in one object."

The hedgehog looked at him in confusion. "I'm your hero? Why?"

"Because you're so cool and everybody loves you, unlike me even though you also have no family."

"It wasn't always like that. Would you believe that once upon a time nobody would give me the time of day?" The fox shook his head. "Well it happened. We're more alike than you think, uh... I don't know your name" he realised.

"Oh yeah. My name is Miles Prower" he said in a sad way.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah but I don't like it very much..."

"I'm not a fan of my real name either Miles. I guess that's another thing we have in common, just like how we're both getting out of here."

"How are we going to do that?"

Sonic smirked. "We're going through the wall."

"We are? But won't the building come down?"

"It's coming down anyway; I might as well help it. Listen to me carefully Miles, I'm going to spin dash through the wall and I want you to fly through the hole I leave, okay?"

"Okay, go for Sonic."

The hedgehog curled up and started spinning on the spot while Miles started spinning his tails, hovering just off the ground. The speedster then hot off, shooting straight through the already weakened wall and reaching the outside. Just as he did Miles followed at his own impressive speed, also reaching the outside as well, landing next to Sonic as he uncurled. A moment later the building fully collapsed.

"Phew, that was close. Not bad Miles, I don't say this often but were fast."

Miles's eyes lightened as he heard that. "Even faster than you?"

"No, but you're the second fastest person I've ever seen. After me of course."

"Oh, well thanks for saving me anyway."

"My pleasure Miles. Now it's time to get you back to your carers."

The fox's face and heart sank. "No, I don't wanna."

"Miles, I understand how you're feeling but I have no choice. I have to go and defeat a mad scientist so unless you know anyone else I can drop you off with you have to go back."

Miles looked at the floor trying to think of a solution that he would like. "Can I go with you?"

Sonic sighed. "Did you miss the part about me defeating an evil genius?"

"Yeah but you're Sonic the Hedgehog. Surely you could keep me safe and if I get hurt it would be my fault and not yours."

"Miles, it's just not safe..." His sentence was interrupted by the fox throwing himself onto his knees and pleading to him.

"Please, please, please, please, please. I'm begging you. You're the only person who's ever been nice to be. Please don't make me go back."

The hedgehog looked straight into the fox's eyes and saw that look of desperation to leave that place, one that he had seen in the mirror many times over his childhood. Normally he would have rejected the idea but this kid reminded him of a young him with next to no one to turn to, the only difference was that he had Mighty and Ray while Miles hadn't mention anyone. Plus he had met anyone so sincere since he left Green Hill. "Okay, you can come."

"Really?" The hedgehog smiled and nodded, prompting the kit to tackle him into a hug knocking them both other. Sonic had never seen someone so happy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Ha ha, you're welcome. But there are two things you need to do."

"Okay."

"The first thing is that you have to do everything I say, especially if Robotnik is around."

"Sure, what's the other?"

"You need a cool nickname."

"I do?"

"Didn't you say that you didn't like your name?" He nodded. "So I've thought of one for you."

"You have?"

"How about Tails?"

The kit's face fell. "What's wrong with Tails? It's short, sweet and suits you" Sonic explained.

"It does sound cool but I don't like my second tail" he said with one of his tails in his hands.

The hedgehog crouched down to his eye level. "At the end of the day you're special and so am I. So let's be special together. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He then shot next to younger Mobian and put his arm around his shoulders. "Besides, I think Sonic and Tails has a nice ring to it."

"Tails" Miles said to himself before it went quiet for a few seconds. "I like it. From not on, I'm Tails. Sonic, this isn't a trick is it?"

"If it was it would be a very mean one."

"You're not going to leave me will you? I don't want to be alone again."

Sonic smiled. "Neither do I."

"Will we be together forever?" Tails asked in all seriousness.

The hedgehog replied instantly. "You bet."

* * *

><p>"I shouldn't have made that promise" sixteen year old Sonic said as he finished his story, his eyes filling up with water. "It only lasted five years. I'm sorry to dump all of this on you Amy."<p>

The pink hedgehog shook her head, raised it and looked straight into her blue furred love's eyes. "It fine Sonic. If I didn't want to know I shouldn't have asked. Does it feel better to at least talked about with someone else aside from Tails."

"Yeah it does. Thanks Amy for being here when I needed you."

"My pleasure." With that both of their heads started getting closer together. Amy felt her heart racing as she knew what was going to happen next. "_This is it, this is when I make my move_" she thought as the pair closed their eyes and extended their lips. Just before they made contact there was a knock on the door and both sets of eyes flew open. "Hold that thought for just a second" she said as she zipped towards the door, summoning her mallet as she did.

"_Don't want to be the person on the other side of that door_" the blue hedgehog thought as Amy threw open the door.

"Do you know I was about to do? Kiss Sonic the Hedgehog which would have meant that our relationship was a definite thing" she screamed as she lifted her hammer. "If this isn't important I will suggest that you leave before I smash you!"

"If you attempt to hit me with your hammer anything I do in retaliation will be classed as self-defence" a familiar sounding voice said, causing Sonic to move behind Amy to see who it was.

Surely enough there was Shadow the Hedgehog, who usually avoided Sonic like the plague. "I don't think you would like my form of self-defence."

"Shadow what are you doing here?" the blue hedgehog asked.

His black counterpart pointed at him. "We need to talk Sonic."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that."

"What do you want Shadow?" Amy asked in an increasingly annoyed tone.

The G.U.N. commando glared at her for a second before turning his attention back to Sonic. "If we don't do something soon Tails may become an enemy of that state."


	10. Dark Reflections

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 10: Dark Reflections**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

"What?" Sonic exclaimed, having just been told that there was a chance that his former little brother could become an enemy of the state.

"You heard me" Shadow said in his usual gruff tone, folding his arms as he did.

"How would Tails become an enemy of the state?" Amy asked, still not happy that her moment with her love was ruined by the black hedgehog.

"Eggman is going to ask him to form an alliance with him, and we think that like he is now the fox will likely accept."

"Sonic, you have to stop him" the pink hedgehog exclaimed, clenching her fists together.

The speedster just averted his gaze away from the other two Mobians. "Sorry, but I can't help you. I'm not his anything anymore so if he wants to live his life like that, let him. Just someone else I will have to fight."

"Sonic..." Amy said, but her words would never be spoken as Shadow suddenly dashed forward and punched Sonic in the stomach.

"I don't believe that and I have a feeling you don't either" he growled, his fist still pressed tightly against the other hedgehog's gut. He then reached into his quills and pulled out the green Chaos Emerald that G.U.N. had acquired some time ago. "Sorry Amy, but I'm afraid I'll need to take Sonic away for a private word. "

The pink hedgehog looked disappointed but nodded. "I want him back in one piece Shadow."

"Amy!" the speedster exclaimed as he moved his gut away from the Ultimate life form's fist only for it to grab his wrist.

"I can't make that promise" he quickly replied before performing his signature move. "Chaos Control!"

As the two hedgehogs became shrouded by the bright green light Amy closed her eyes. "_I don't like seeing you sad like this Sonic. I thought if maybe he started thinking about Tails then maybe he'd realise what he really needs to do but now I know that I can't help him. His ego's hurt and his pride bruised so I can't do anymore_." She opened her eyes as the light died down. "_Strength responds to strength so I'm counting on you Shadow. Please, help him on the road to happiness just like you did_."

* * *

><p>Tails' mood had not lifted in any way. He had retrieved the shards that had started this all off from his lab so that he could further test them but he couldn't focus in there. Just like his former brother had said, the Tornado did make the fox think of him. The plane had long been a source of comfort for him, he had a deep attachment for the plane which is why he had done his best to maintain and enhance it. But now just looking at it brought back memories, happy memories that stabbed his heart.<p>

He had ended up bring them upstairs so that he could avoid the plane. But it wasn't long before the blue hedgehog invaded his thoughts once again, this time in a way he had never been thought about before. Revenge. Tails had access to a powerful piece of technology that could affect and erase time so the genius had found himself scheming.

"So if I could lure him in, I could get the shards close enough to the Chaos Emerald he has then I could make him my real age and then he could see how unbearable it is to live under someone. Or I could make him even younger so that he wouldn't know any different, but if I did that would his actual memories remain or would he regress back to how he was then? And how would I even get to him? If I don't want to see him for a good reason then he wouldn't want to anywhere near me..."

Before could complete his thoughts there was a knock on the door which caused a feeling of annoyance to rise within. Tails was not in the mood for company, he wanted to finish his project and it's not the sort of thing you share with people. Focusing on something was the only way he pushing away the despair, Sonic had his friends and he had his thoughts. Plus there was the fact that anybody who cared for him most likely hated him by now so it was surprise to even get a visitor.

He marched over to the door and opened it before shouting so hard he needed to close his eyes. "I'm busy plotting here, so unless it's of the utmost importance leave me alone!"

"Really?" a very familiar voice replied, causing the fox's eyes to snap open. In front of him was his worst enemy, Dr. Eggman with a huge grin on his face and his chair landed in the clearing in front of the workshop. "So much alike even before I've said anything."

The fox jumped back a little and raised his fists, his body ready to react to anything the human could throw at him. "I'm warning you Eggman, I'm not in the mood to deal with you so I suggest you get back in your chair and leave before I do something that we'll both regret."

"So you can go back to your scheming?" the doctor said while brushing his moustache, taking pleasure when the fox faltered for second.

"Sh-Shut up. I just want him to know what it like to live under someone, not rule the world."

"But you are plotting something and you currently hate the hedgehog correct?" The Mobian nodded slowly. "You must see the similarity between us."

"Okay, so there's some things the same. So what?"

"I don't see why we can't help each other achieve our goals."

"Not interested" he shot back instantly.

"That's something I would expect from Sonic" the human said. "You're right to be weary of me but not hasty."

The fox lowered his still curled up fists but his body was still tense. "I don't see why you would be interested in me. Aren't you the one who says that you're a super genius who doesn't need anyone else?"

"I don't remember saying that."

"It was implied."

"In any case, may we continue this inside?"

Tails hesitated for a few seconds. "_I've been fighting him for years and now he wants to talk. I'll admit we have worked well together in the past and it's not like I've got anybody else. Any port in a storm, right?_" He put on a serious face. "Alright, but I'm keeping an eye on you so don't try anything."

The doctor's grin did not waver. "I didn't expect anything different."

* * *

><p>"What was that for?" Sonic exclaimed as he finally got out of his counterpart's grip. He recognised their new surrounds as the roof of building Amy lives in, having been brought out here several times by his hammer wielding fan and by the fact that he sometimes liked jumping among the rooftops; it was relaxing if he was in the right mood.<p>

"You need to grow up Sonic and be the bigger person" Shadow growled, his eyebrows furrowed in the same way they always were when he was with his blue counterpart. His arms were folded as a mental restraint not to smack the other hedgehog again.

The speedster just glared at him. "In case you didn't notice, I'm not the bigger person anymore."

"Mentally you were never the bigger person."

"If the only reason you're here is to make me feel worse than I already am then I'm not in the mood" he said, spinning on his heel and beginning to stomp towards the stairs before the Ultimate life form spoke again.

"I thought you had more resolve than that Sonic but after hearing what happened at Green Hill I shouldn't be surprised."

This caused the blue hedgehog to stop and turn to face his dark doppelganger. "You don't know what it was like so stop pretending like you know me better than actually do. And another thing, before you start talking about friends and stuff like that what do you even know about friendship? Huh?" He crossed his arms and started to tap his foot impatiently. "I'm waiting."

Before he could go any further Shadow spoke but one word which ended his whole charade. "Maria" he said, closing his eyes as his did. Sonic's shoulders instantly slumped and his foot stopped moving. "Perhaps you had forgotten that my own upbringing was not pleasant either. The only part the ARK want to remember is Maria and even then I decided to put my past behind, admittedly unsuccessfully."

That bit surprised the blue hedgehog. Every one of their friends knew that after defeating the alien Black Doom and repelling that invasion Shadow had decided to put his past behind him, his joining of G.U.N. being the pinnacle of this. Having done something similar himself the speedster had been in favour of this move but never would have guessed he was failing in that endeavour. "There's something you can't forget?" he asked.

He shook his head. "When I said I was putting everything behind me I meant I wasn't going to let them hold me back anymore, not that I was going to completely forget them. Hearing the detail you put into your recount I'd say you're the same."

"I got a good feeling smashing those 'bots and people seemed to be liking me for once so I kept at it. It came with the freedom I always wanted so I didn't complain, and that was before his bigger schemes which really shook the world."

A rare smirk appeared on the black hedgehog's face. "I don't think I'm looking at that little kid who caused trouble for everyone" he said.

Green eyes met red ones. "And it's hard to believe that I'm having a conversation with the guy who once tried to stop me from saving the world." Sonic looked down as his thoughts turned elsewhere. "I guess people do change over time..."

"The problem is that people can change too quickly. The fox's age doubled in an instant resulting in this problem. And even if people leave you, it's hard to put it behind you if you are being reminded of them."

"I thought you were talking about Maria?" Sonic asked. He didn't really want to pry on this topic as it was very touchy. Despite his lack of tact at times even he had limits of how far he would go, everyone has their sore spot which even he wouldn't poke fun at. Orphanages were his, all of Emerald Hill was Tails', the fate of the Knuckles clan was not to brought up around Knuckles, insulting tarot cards was Amy's, as for Shadow it was mostly Space Colony ARK in general but Maria was extremely sensitive subject. Not that he was one in make fun of those that have departed for the afterlife, he didn't even like the thought of using the d word.

"I was" he replied sternly. "But every time I see you and Tails together I can't help but be reminded of me and Maria. And that's why I can't let you throw what you have away."

Although he was surprised of the usual mysterious hedgehog was being so open with him, the speedster found himself turning away from Shadow, not exactly happy of showing such weakness in front of one of his rivals. "It's not that I'm just carelessly throwing it away, it just that he doesn't need me anymore and I don't need him..."

* * *

><p>"...and then he runs off with no attempt to fix things. I can't believe he used to impress me. He just led me on all these years just to throw me away the moment I stop listening to him" Tails exclaimed, his grip on the armrests of his chair was starting to damage it.<p>

"Believe me, I feel your pain" Eggman replied with a look full of sympathy, for him at least. "The hedgehog may save the lives of many but ruins the lives of the few. I was once poised to take over the world and end all the suffering but then he came and somehow overcame everything I threw his way..."

"The only suffering you would've ended was your own" the fox interrupted, causing the doctor's face to droop. "You were capturing animals and Mobians alike to power your machines."

"I don't think they would've felt anything in that state" he countered, making Tails wonder if that would've been true or maybe there was some form of consciousness achieved while being used as a living battery. "Regardless, building up your hopes, even going so far as to call himself your big brother only to leave you when you really needed him."

"I did not need him, I can look after myself" he shouted back, his temper boiling for a second before he calmed down again. "_I can't believe that the whole brother thing was my idea_" he thought, causing him to scowl. When was it when that happened, Casino Night? Aquatic Ruin? No, he had the idea as early as Chemical Plant but it wasn't until Hill Top that he actually gathered the courage to mention it. Sonic said he would think about it but he surprised the then young fox by agreeing to it after bring down the Death Egg the first time. He could remember feeling so ecstatic about it back then that it took a lot of mental effort not to start crying at it now. "_No, I'm too old for tears now and especially not in front of Eggman_."

"He has been like this ever since I've known him" the human pointed out. "As we were battling I was able to sum up the kind of person my foe was, it was not impressive" he admitted, looking straight at the fox, who seemed to be paying more attention now than a second ago.

"That I can understand" he replied.

"For people like us, the ones with far superior intellect, the world is a very cruel place full of jealous people who will stop at nothing to put us down. You have experienced this first hand this cruelty, have you not?" Tails didn't move but the doctor could tell in his eyes that he did. "Don't you want them to know the same suffering that they did to us?"

Revenge had been a topic that had been on his mind recently. Unlike Sonic, who was still partial to Green Hill, Tails never wants to ever see or hear of Emerald Hill again. "_Maybe wiping it off the map wouldn't be such a bad thing, get rid of everybody first so no lives are lost. Maybe not everybody..._"

"Even during our fights I have noticed your own talent for mechanics. Although not quite on my own level it is far beyond average and with your age it will only grow. With our combined genius no one could even dare defy us! Join me and the world shall ours to rule and cleanse as we see fit."

The fox's eyes darted away from the human towards the floor as he found himself actually considering his offer. "_I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't interested. I could stop people from ever treating someone like they did me, but to do that I would have to make everyone suffer first. I could make peace, but I would have to fight my friends_." He shook his head at this thought. "_No, former friends. I have no friends, if they or any back stabbing hedgehog tried to stop me I'll have to stomp them. But all of this goes against everything that I have ever believed in, everything I have done with my life so far_. _Could I really fight the people I once cared about, or really condemn everyone to a world ruled by Eggman even if I'm there too? _"

"You said you were creating a plot against Sonic?" Eggman spoke, knocking the Mobian out of his mental debate. "Did you come up with anything?"

Tails hesitated for a few seconds; he was embarrassed to say it out loud not just because it wouldn't compare to any of the plots the human had concocted over the years, but also because it would mean admitting that he was actually thinking about getting revenge on Sonic. "I was thinking of using the shards of Time Eater's core to reduce Sonic to my former age so he would know what it was like to have his life dictated by someone."

The human put his hand on his chin, or where it would have been if he had one. "Why stop at seven..."

"Eight" Tails corrected.

"... yes, eight, when you could go back even further. Make the pest an infant where he will be unable to help himself, let alone anyone else. Or if you didn't want to fight him, make him a baby and re-raise him so that he doesn't know any better than not to defy us."

"_I know that he's an evil genius but those are some really good ideas. If I went with his second thought then I wouldn't even need to be on the opposite side of the battle as Sonic. But if I raised him in that environment he may end up an entirely different person, or Sonic avoids that trap and takes me down as well as Eggman. Then there would be no chance of us ever back together_." That thoughts surprised him, as it made him think that maybe under all of that anger that there was a side of him who just wanted everything to go back to normal. He gripped his head, his eyes widened with panic and his head facing the floor.

"I know that abandoning everything you believe in is a hard decision to make" Eggman stated, noticing the external signs of the fox's internal struggle. "I'll give you some more time to mull it over. Do you mind if I help myself to some food?" he asked, not waiting for an answer that obviously wasn't coming.

As Tails' thoughts threatened to tear him in two, he couldn't help but quickly whisper to himself "Sonic..."

* * *

><p>A scowl had reappeared on Shadow's face. "By that logic, people like us don't need anyone."<p>

Sonic head snapped to face his dark counterpart. "Huh?"

"We are strong enough to fight the strongest of Eggman's machines and not give it a second thought, so why do we need anybody but ourselves?"

"Do you listen to what you're saying? It would be lonely just being by ourselves all the time, I'd go stir crazy."

"But how do Amy and Cream actually aid you in battle?"

"Hey, they can fight..." The speedster was cut off by the G.U.N. agent.

"But not the same level you can. In that case, why do you keep them around?"

An angry expression crept onto the blue hedgehog's face. "What sort of question is that? There my friends, if I want them to be with me they will." His eyes widened in realisation. "If I want them..."

Shadow smirked. "Nice to see that you finally get it. I know that you want Tails back. If went so far as not just to call him your best friend but your little brother as well, it must be special."

The blue hedgehog griped his head in his hand. "Tails... I'm an idiot."

"That was never questioned" the black Mobian added quickly, earning him a glare from Sonic.

"All he needed was someone to help him went he wasn't himself and I ran away, now he's thinking about joining our worst enemy. I'm the worst big brother ever..."

"There's still time to make amends, but you have to go now. G.U.N. is going to launch a strike squad to arrest Tails in order to protect the state in fifteen minutes."

"What? They can't arrest him for something he hasn't done?" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow crossed his arms. "It's a way to keep him away from Eggman. I came here so you could end this without it coming to that."

"Right, thanks Shadow. I better get moving" he said before jumping off the rooftop and running down the wall. "Tell Amy sorry for running out on her" he shouted up before he sped away.

Shaking his head in disbelief, the black furred Mobian pulled out his Chaos Emerald before he spotted a dark blue figure on one of nearby rooftops, one which resembled the hedgehog who had just left. In an instant Shadow had a Chaos Spear in hand ready to throw before a transmission on his communicator.

"Good work Agent Shadow" the Commander's voice said through the device. "Now return to base in case we are needed."

"Sir, I have encountered a high priority Eggman Robot. Requesting permission to engage."

"We copy, but denied. We need you here and that robot isn't doing anything."

"But Sir..."

"That's an order" he shouted, causing the hedgehog to reabsorb the energy used to create the projectile.

"Understood" he said through clenched teeth before he involved Chaos Control.

As he did, two red LED eyes gleamed to life on the figure.


	11. The Metal will Live on

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 11: The Metal will Live on**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

"_Tails, I'm so sorry_" Sonic thought as he dashed towards the workshop and his best friend. "_I swear I'll never leave you hanging like this again. If Eggman has hurt you..._"

His trail of thought was interrupted by the sound of an engine behind him, one that he was sure he had heard before. When he found himself thinking of Stardust Speedway, the hedgehog instinctively dived to the right when the engine started making another noise just in time to dodge a laser that struck right where he was.

Turning behind him, his heart dropped and body tensed at what he saw. Floating just above the ground was a robot that bore a very heavy resemblance to himself. It was a blue robot whose head had three spins and had two red LEDs which resembled eyes. Where Sonic's belly was a laser cannon on the front with a jet engine on the back. Its feet were painted to look like his own shoes, red with a white stripe. The organic hedgehog recognised this figure instantly.

"Metal Sonic!" he exclaimed. The last time he saw his robotic counterpart was during that mess with the third N1 Grand Prix.

Metal descended to the ground. "If only eliminating you was that easy" he said in his chilling robotic voice.

"What're you doing here Metal?"

"Isn't that oblivious? I've come to destroy you and finally take my rightful place as the real Sonic."

"Ask a stupid question" the speedster muttered under his breath as he half closed his eyes in boredom. "Yeah, as much as I love teaching you why I'm Sonic and you're not Metal Sonic a.k.a. not me I'm in a hurry. My bro's on the line so I'll be seeing ya." With that the Mobian turned on his heel and took off, a blue aura forming in front of him.

Sonic hadn't encountered Metal since he perfected his Sonic Boost technique, which accelerated him to the fastest speed he could reach but he could only use it for a limited time before he had to slow down or risk injuring himself. He was confident that his doppelganger would not be able to match his speed so he was shocked when he found the robot dash up next to him surrounded by an electrical aura.

"What? When did you... Stole another one of my moves I see."

Metal just turned his head to face his foe. "I have been using my V. Max Overdrive attack ever since our first encounter" he pointed out, causing Sonic to remember back when they first fought, or in that case raced. He had been using that attack since then.

"Oh yeah..."

"That means that you copied me."

"I can't copy a copy. And even if I did, which I didn't, that would mean I would've copied you once while you've copied me in every other way."

"You forget that you are my loathsome copy" the robot shot back.

"Just because you say that doesn't make it true. Now can we please do this some other time, next week perhaps?" As he said that aura faded from Sonic as he slowed down a little with Metal Sonic doing the same but then he quickly accelerated in front of his organic doppelganger, turned, stopped in front of and tried to slash the hedgehog.

Using his quickly than average reflexes the hero of Mobius slowed down the best he could but ended up having spin jump backwards to avoid the blow, landing on his feet but glaring at his oldest rival. "I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't want to get to Tails."

Metal nodded his head. "Affirmative."

"And you're doing that because..." He trailed off, prompting his foe to explain.

"The separation of you and the fox not only makes you easer targets if the fox does not defect to our side, but no matter the outcome it mentally weakens you."

The Mobian tilted his head sideways. "Come again?"

"With your friendship destroyed your feeble organic mind would be too busy focusing on the despair of your loss to fully fight me, giving me the perfect opportunity to eliminate you and finally prove myself to be the true Sonic!"

"Well that's harsh, saying that the only way to defeat me is for me to be depressed and thinking of other things. I thought you had more self confidence than that." Despite not having the ability to show emotions facially, Metal clenched his fists and stomped his foot.

"That is not the reason. I want to see you broken like I have been many times as a result of our encounters."

Sonic cocked his head again. "Don't think that's the same kind of broken."

The robot shook his head. "Whereas I can be rebuilt from being physically broken, you cannot be repaired from being mentally broken."

The Mobian's expression became a serious one. "In that case, it's better if that doesn't happen" he shouted as he dashed towards his doppelganger at high speeds. In order to counter this Metal Sonic's body started to discharge electricity, surrounding his body with an electric barrier that would shock anyone who came into contact with him.

Despite not expecting the robot to this, the organic hedgehog was not planning to ram him. He curled up into a ball and at the last second jumped over his foe, landing behind him and dashing off once again with Metal Sonic quickly pursuing him.

"It will take more than that to escape me!" he shouted before using his rocket thrusters to ascend he started to fire lasers at Sonic who narrowly dodged them all before he curled himself into a spin dash and bounced off a tree, allowing him to head straight towards Metal Sonic.

However just as his attack was about to connect a black, diamond shaped shield surrounded the robot blocking the attack and forcing the hedgehog to uncurl. "I didn't know you had that anymore" he got out before crossing his arms to block his opponent's kick.

"Eggman upgraded my systems so that I have access to all the abilities my previous versions had" he replied before his attack overwhelmed the organic hedgehog, sending him flying to the ground. He then quickly fired a follow up laser up Sonic got back on his feet and jumped out of harm's way.

"Unless I'm missing something, the only Metal Sonic left is the one that betrayed Eggman, tried to copy me, Shadow and Chaos in order to become me and almost hijacked the last grand prix. That is you right?"

The robot nodded. "Of course." With that he shot towards his foe, trying to attack him with physical strikes only for Sonic to evade all of them before launching his own counterattack. Although the majority of them were blocked, Sonic did land a few punches on his robotic counterpart before Metal was able to catch his leg in mid-kick and throw him away before firing a laser at him which connected.

"You're not trying as hard as what you usually do, my loathsome copy" he taunted, crossing his arms in a fashion that reminded the hedgehog of himself.

"Why did Eggman work on you if you once tried to take his empire?" he asked as he picked his body off the ground.

"I went back to him. He is the only person who could understand my hatred of you, but it seems your shadow feels the same way as well. I wonder what upgrades he will think of for me, providing he makes the smart choice and join us."

What happened next happened so fast that even he had trouble processing it. Sonic had boosted into him, dashed after him, grabbed his foot, slammed the robot into the ground and spin dashed into him for half a minute. When he stopped he reminded on top of Metal Sonic and started to punch him repeatedly. "Shut up, just shut up. Tails would never join you or Eggman and I won't let him get hurt by either of you." His eyes started to water. "Not because of something I did."

At this point Metal Sonic caught his fist and kicked Sonic off him. "In the state you are in now, it is improbable that you would be able to save him even if what you say is true." The robot quickly activated his black shield as the Mobian used his Sonic Boost technique to ram into him.

Sonic's face was one of pure rage. "If you do anything to my only living family..."

"Your only living family?" Metal Sonic questioned. "You are a hedgehog and he is a fox, you are in no possible way related."

The hedgehog pushed harder and the machine would have looked shocked if he could when a crack appeared in his shield. "Maybe not by blood or anything science-y like that, but Tails is my little bro and he can hate me all he likes but that will never change. If you dare harm on hair on his head I'll...

"You will do what?"

"Let me put it this way. If you hurt me, I'll kick your butt like I always do. If you hurt one of my friends I'll turn you into a walking scrap heap again. But if you're stupid enough to hurt my brother", his expression became icy which would have scared anyone with feelings who saw it, "I'll tear you apart into so many pieces that not even Tails and Eggy together would be able to put you back together!"

As soon as he shouted that the shield broke and Metal Sonic was hit hard and was send flying across the battle ground, breaking a few trees and tearing up the ground as he went until he left Sonic's sight. Putting his hands on his knees, the hedgehog took this time to calm down.

"_Tails, please hold on a little longer. Whatever you do please don't agree to go with them. You're my only family and I'm yours, I don't know about you but I know now that I can't live without you_."

His eyes picked up a sound that seemed to be heading straight for him. Curling up into a ball he dashed straight towards the noise, only to clash with his doppelganger who was using the same move as him. Reaching a stalemate they both moved back away from each other and uncurled.

"I see" the robot said in his cold, metallic voice. "I do not comprehend where this strength is coming from but if I want to prove myself as the real Sonic I must be able to overcome anything you can do."

"I don't think you could" Sonic shot back in an emotionless tone, his eyes closed. "I've always had something you never did, a reason. You were programmed to destroy me but I chose to trash you. You never even had a choice..."

"Incorrect. I overcame my programming and locked away Eggman. I may have been built to destroy you but my mission to prove myself as the real Sonic is my own choice."

"There a slight problem with" he replied calmly. "If you were built to destroy me then you can't be real me, even I know that it doesn't make sense." A smirk then appeared on the hedgehog's face and he let out a chuckle.

This confused the killer robot. "What are you laughing at? Have you finally lost your mind?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, I just thinking about something my bro once said about how you can't have logic chip or something as it would make you explode."

"What?"

"Yeah, that was after you became that metal monster and me, Tails and Knuckles went super, or kinda super in their case, to stop you." His eyes snapped open with his trademark grin on his face. "Good times, the kind that will always happen with him by my side. Making those times happen again and again is the most important reason I've ever had to take you down Metal."

"Your emotions have deluded you, pitiful copy."

"It's shame you don't have a heart, as your breaking mine" he said before he rushed towards the robot who took to the air only to be followed by Sonic.

"All your heart and emotions do is cloud your judgement" Metal roared as he charged his cannon. However as he fired the organic hedgehog stopped in mid-air and fell towards the ground while curling up.

"Let me tell you about me and why you're not me" he said as he bounced off the ground and struck the robot before uncurling. "First, I'm not alone unlike you who I've never seen you with any other robot." Keeping the momentum of his spin he axed kicked him which the robot blocked with his arms. "Secondly, I trash Eggman and I would never join him, never!"

After reaching a stalemate for a couple of seconds Sonic's attack overpowered the robotic duplicate, sending him towards the ground before the speedster lunched a homing attack to hit his doppelganger before he hit the ground. Metal hit the ground hard before Sonic bounced on him. "And finally, I'm the fastest thing alive. You're not the fastest and whatever Shadow says he not either."

He then dashed on ahead towards the workshop. "_It's better that I took care of better of Metal before I got to the workshop. Bringing home a killer robot is not the best way to say I'm sorry, as he would be the one to fix it. I remember how mad he was when he left me and Knuckles in the living room for five minutes only for us to end up fighting and wrecking everything. I had to bribe him with mints to get him to talk to me_."

Just as his mind was drifting back to that incident a familiar engine came roaring up behind him, causing the speedster to jump just in time to cause his foe, now looking a little worse for wear, to miss him. "Aren't you done yet?" he shouted in an exasperated tone.

"I will not be denied my rightful place" he roared back.

"I don't think there are nut houses for robots."

"Are you implying I have some screws loose?"

It took the Mobian a second to realise that Metal Sonic had linked screws to nuts. "Was that a joke?"

"To be the real Sonic I must be able to match and surpass you in every way."

"We'll make a talker out of you yet, Metal" he shot back before the robot raced in front of him, performed a u-turn and came dashing towards him with his V. Max Overdrive attack. However part of him had been expecting his moment ever since the fight begun so Sonic activated his Sonic Boost technique to counter it.

"We have fought countless times in the past, to the point that your feeble brain seem to able to predict my movements like how my programming is able to predict yours" the robot said.

"Strange, isn't it?" Sonic counter just they were about to clash. "Or it would be if it was true." At the last second the organic hedgehog stepped to the side, causing his robotic counterpart to shoot pass him. "Truth is, not even I know what I'm going to do next" he shouted back while continuing his boost. A smile crept on his face as he recognised the cliffs that were coming up. Stopping at the edge he saw the familiar sight of the Mystic Ruin, and with it the workshop in which his best friend was in. He scowled when he saw Eggman's hover chair parked in the clearing in front of his former home.

He was about to dash forward when he heard the sound of a camera zooming to the left of him. Looking he saw a small floating machine which looked grey but had some yellow on the area which exposed the fan that kept it cool on the top it. Even without seeing the G.U.N. emblem on the side the Mobian knew what this was, a G.U.N. beetle, one of the military's surveillance bots. He grabbed it so that the camera was directly in front of his face.

"Stop, don't come" he shouted into. "I'm here, I'll take care it. Just don't arrest Tails." Before he could say anything else he was smacked over the edge of the cliff by a blue ball that uncurled to reveal Metal Sonic.

"I will defeat you if it's the last thing I do" he shouted the best a robot could while they were still in the air. The hedgehog was able punch his metallic doppelganger away towards the ground before following him with his foot extended.

"Even if you did, I know a two tailed fox who's more me than you will ever be." However, Metal Sonic activated his rocket to halt his descent and catch the hedgehog's foot.

"Invalid conclusion" he replied coldly as he swung his organic counterpart through the air and charged his laser cannon. "You said that Sonic the Hedgehog would never join Eggman" he explained as he fired.

Reacting quickly, the Mobian spun in the air to evade the attack and performed a homing attack only to have it blocked. "I'm here to make that never happens." He came out of his attack and used Metal Sonic as footing, jumping off him and towards the workshop. He hit the ground running with his doppelganger right on his heels.

"_Almost there_" he mentally grunted as he dashed up the stairs and jumped over Eggman's chair. While he was still in midair the robot sped up, attempting to make his move. Sonic saw this coming and spun to avoid the robot's dash, ending up above him. He then planted both of his feet on Metal's back and pushed him into the chair below him. The whole exchange took a second.

"Take a seat Metal while I fix this mess" he sternly said as he bounced off his counterpart's head before dashed towards the door. "_I hope I'm not too late_" passed through his head.


	12. Dynamic Duo

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 12: Dynamic Duo**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

While Sonic was racing towards the workshop with his robotic rival trying his best to keep the pair apart, Tails was still mentally torn as what to do. One part of him didn't want to be lonely again and at the moment his only choice of company was the mad scientist Dr. Eggman, but he was a scientist.

On the other hand there was a part of him who knew better than to trust Eggman with anything, especially with himself or the remains of Time Eater's core. If he could harness that energy he could erase the world again or reduce anyone who opposed him to an age where they could not. But if he did that then he would be alone, just like he was in Emerald Hill all those years ago.

And then there was the small part of him which he didn't want to admit he had, the part that wanted Sonic, the one who had dashed into his life, turned it upside down and had ended his loneliness in one fell swoop. The part of him who was considering being eight again just so he had his friends and his brother, the only family he had ever known. The part that was convinced that with just a smile and a wag of a finger that the hedgehog would end all of his problems, especially the mental struggle he was currently having.

He was so busy trying to decide which path he should take that he hadn't notice the human re-enter the room while finishing off the sandwich that he had made. "Have made up your mind?" he asked, his voice filled with fake niceness.

"I... need a little more time" the fox replied with hesitance.

Eggman's face hardened and his expression became a stern one. "Unfortunately I am a rather busy man and I can't afford to spend a lot more time here."

"But..." Tails' rebuttal was interrupted by the doctor.

"In the rare occasion that logic fails, it may be best to follow your first thought." He grinned. "Answer me this Tails, would you want to stay here in this workshop full of memories all by yourself or would you want to be in my exemplary presence were you can get back all those who have hurt you in the past with access to the greatest technologies?"

"_What do I want?_" he thought. "_I guess I don't really want to be by myself, especially in a place that that reminds me of him. But... what about the world? What about the innocent people? Would I be condemning them? And I know I shouldn't care but what would the others think? Knuckles, Amy, Cream... Sonic..._"

"What will it be, fox boy?" Eggman asked in a tone that made the Mobian think that he already knew the answer. Unfortunately it seemed like he was right. The human extended his hand while Tails found himself on his feet but nervously rubbing his arm.

"_What should I do? I really hate to admit it but I need help. Please, anyone..._" Seeing no other choice to avoid loneliness the fox stretched his hand out towards the human's.

"Should I assume this is a yes?" he asked, stretching his arm further.

The fox's hand stretched further, but it was now trembling. He opened his mouth but nothing seemed to be coming out of it. "_This is it I guess..._" Just before the two hands touched the door flew open and a very familiar voice snapped Tails out of his unsure trance.

"Tails, don't do it!"

Standing in the doorway was the person that he had secretly hoped to see, his best friend, his big brother, Sonic. Upon seeing him Tails retracted his hand instantly and his eyes lit up. "Sonic!" he cried out in a mixture of surprise and relief.

"You!" Eggman fumed.

"Can it Eggman" he shot back before he shot between the human and fox. Tails found a little smile on his face, which relieved the hedgehog before the orange Mobian's expression hardened and his arms crossed.

"What are you doing here Sonic?" he asked sternly.

"What sort of question is that? I'm here to make you don't make the biggest mistake ever."

The fox spun around so that his back was so the hedgehog. "I don't need you to tell me what to do" he half shouted while secretly feeling his heart sink as he lied.

"Tails..." he said quietly before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

This caused the orange Mobian to turn and face him in surprise. "What?" While he wouldn't admit it Sonic could be quite stubborn so if he thinks he's right it was hard to get an apology out of him on that topic. The fact that he was either meant this was some sort of trick or he had changed his mind. The former seemed the most likely.

"I'm sorry Tails. I know that you really needed me to be there for you and I just bailed. And to make things worse I got so wrapped up with keeping things the same that my worst nightmare almost came true."

He was wary but the speedster looked so sincere, and having lived with him for so long Tails had learned that if he looked closely enough then he could tell in those green eyes if he was lying. It was something that annoyed him as according to the hedgehog his blue eyes gave him away in the rare event he was being dishonest. However, he was curious about what Sonic's worst nightmare could be. "And what would that be?"

The hedgehog moved forward and placed his hands on Tails' shoulders, the fox was going to move them off but the blue Mobian's words stopped him. "Losing you of course."

"What?" he asked again, trying to see any indication that this was all a ruse but failing. "That can't be... but you left me..." he stammered.

"That's right, he did. What's stopping him from doing it again" Eggman interrupted, earning him a split-second glare from the hedgehog. He hated opening his heart in front of his enemy but if it fixed things between him and Tails he was willing to look past the embarrassment.

"I only did that because I thought I'd already lost you" he said with a sad sigh.

"Lost me how?"

"Because you became older so quickly, I was afraid that you wouldn't need me anymore. I mean, you're a genius and responsible... you're a better teenager than I am. And then you could keep up with me... I started to panic. That's why I was in my head so much, as you put it, the other day."

"That's what you couldn't tell me?" he asked in disbelief. "_The thing that he was keeping from me was that he was afraid that he was losing me? That's what caused me to..._" Events from the previous day came back into his head, causing his eyes to water a little.

He nodded. "I thought since we're so different that when we got older you wouldn't need me around as much and then we would drift away. And I couldn't bear the thought of that, I know that now."

"Even after everything that happened?" He nodded. "But why? I've seen you fight Knuckles, Shadow, Silver and Blaze for a lot less. Now I really know I'm not worth it. I'm an awful person..."

"Don't think that!" Sonic said a little too sharply, realising it in the shock in the fox's eyes. "Sorry, but I know that wasn't really you. Everybody does really, it just came as a shock to us all. And you're not the worst, I am for being a bad example. I thought that if I kept away then maybe the friendly fox I saved from that burning orphanage would come back."

It hadn't struck Tails that the stubbornness and temper could have been him hanging around the hedgehog for too long. "But I should be smart enough to know which of your traits I want, not all of them are bad. I mean, when I think about it I guess I'm not that little kid scared of the world believing that no one would ever like me. You gave me hope, and confidence." His expression, ears and tails drooped as recent events forced themselves back into his mind. "Maybe at this age I have too much confidence..."

"Nah, that's a good thing. It's the temper you need to watch for." He looked away, not really comfortable with being so open. "As for why you're worth it..."

"Because I'm your best friend?" Tails asked, hoping that by doing so he may be able to salvage his friendship.

The speedster shook his head and smiled. "I was going to say that you're my little bro, I mean bro. Sorry, force of habit."

Tails' eyes lit up instantly. "You mean, we can be brothers again?"

"I don't remember stopping. Fact is I see you as the only family I know, I can't live without you."

"Right back at you" he said before pulling Sonic into a hug which he quickly returned. "I'm sorry" he added.

"I know Tails, I know."

"Hey..." the twin tailed Mobian started before he trailed off. His cheeks started to heat up.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You don't think that you could promise to not leave me alone, could you?" He felt so childish asking it that, but was unaware that it caused Sonic's grin to become even bigger.

"I can't promise anything but I can say that you won't be lonely again. Is that what you meant?" He nodded. "I may have lots of friend but only one brother. Being your brother the longest, but best adventure I've ever had."

"Yeah well, being your brother is harder than maintaining the Tornado but it is more rewarding" he retorted. "Thanks for coming."

"Nothing could keep me away."

"Obviously, or else I wouldn't be seeing this sickening scene " another voice said, causing the pair to glare at the speaker. Eggman looked annoyed by these turn of events.

"You're ruining the mood" they both shot back at the same time while separating and tensing their bodies.

"Come now Tails, how can you believe a word he says? That was just a display of his true colours, the ones I've know ever since day one."

"What are you trying to get at?" Sonic barked at his nemesis.

"Your childish delusion is gone. If you think was bad, what about when you actually get to that age? You two would be at each other's throats more than we are. Wouldn't it be best to cut your losses and break away now before the wound becomes too deep?"

"Tails' eyes widened as he thought about it. "_He's right, if I do stay sixteen this could happen over and over again only slowly getting worse and worse until eventually we reach the part of no return. Then what would happen? Would I end up like Eggman, trying to change everything to match my view? Or would I follow Shadow and shut myself off from the world_. _Even if I go back to being my own age this would still happen one day. Is there no way that this could work between us without all of this pain?_"

Sonic started to get concerned. He almost had his brother back, everything was almost back to how it should be. But of course Eggman had opened his mouth and things seemed to be falling apart again. "Tails?"

"I don't want that to happen!" the fox burst out, his eyes starting to fill up.

"Don't want what to happen?"

He looked away from the two other people in the room, ashamed that even though he was now a teenager he was still on the verge of bawling like a baby. "What if Eggman's right?"

"Then that would be a first and the world would implode on itself" he said with a chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood. When the orange Mobian looked at him again, the hedgehog knew it hadn't worked.

"This is serious. What if being together only ends up bringing us apart? What if we start to hate each other, really hate each other to the point that there is no way to fix it? I don't want that, I don't want that pain or that loneliness." Sonic opened his mouth to speak but Tails cut him off, knowing what the speedster was going to say. "Even if I do go back to being eight, it's going to happen someday."

"I don't want to feel that pain or loneliness again either, but ending things now would only make things worse. Besides, what have I said about listening to Eggman?"

"That I shouldn't or else I lose my sanity."

"Hey, I only standing right here!" the human fumed.

The blue Mobian gave him and icy look over his shoulder. "And that's a problem in itself doc." He then turned back to the fox. "Look, I just promised that you would never be lonely, right? And you have to remember I've felt like the world hated me too."

The mechanic had turned his eyes towards the floor. "The difference is that you don't act like it, and you wouldn't be lonely anyway. You would still have everybody else."

"There you're friends too you know, just because they backed me up this time doesn't mean that they would that every time. And I will I may have lots of friends, I only have one best friend and one bro."

"But you could easily get another..." Tails felt the speedsters hand clamp his should again, causing him to look at his brother shake his head.

"Remember how we fell out about whether we needed each other?" He nodded. "Well it doesn't matter how much I need you to be with me if I want you to" he said with a smile. "Don't you want to be brothers again?"

"Of course I do, but..."

Whatever the fox was going to say no one would ever know as the hedgehog cut him off. "But nothing Tails, it's decided. Me and you, together forever again. Like two peas in a pod."

"Making his mind up for him?" Eggman asked. Sonic didn't bother turning around this time.

"I'm helping him make up his mind."

"Helping him or helping yourself?"

"Eggman" Tails interjected, ending their argument. "I've made my decision about your offer."

"And?" both the human and Mobian asked with baited breath.

"I've decided thanks but no thanks." While Sonic's expression lifted in a heartbeat, Eggman's fell.

"Are you sure? You must know how being with this buffoon will end."

"Well, that's one way it can or it can never end. You know what they say, you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family."

"You do remember than you two are not related."

"Like that matters" the speedster countered. "If Tails goes back to being eight, then by the time he's sixteen again then I'll be twenty three. I worked it out, boy that's a scary thought..." he said with a shudder.

"Yes, you would be twenty three but forgot to make your point" the genius pointed out.

"Sorry, but I would be so old..."

"Sonic!" he shouted at him.

"Okay, okay. The point I was trying to make is that I should have grown up at least a little by then and we wouldn't be the same so it wouldn't be like this. But if he wants to stay the same age as me that's fine too."

This surprised him. "Really?"

He turned to face his friend, allowing Tails to see that he was serious. "Of course. I was thinking that I wouldn't like it if someone was always telling me what to do and it's your life, I shouldn't be running it for you."

"Are you sure? Are you okay with that?"

"You want to be your own person and I don't want to stop you, because you're a great guy Tails and think that you can only get better."

"You're just saying that" he said, looking away to hide the fact that he didn't believe him.

"Nah, everybody does."

"But they all went with you."

A smirk appeared on his face. "Well to be fair, if you hadn't shouted at her I know a rabbit who would have picked you over me."

"Ahem" Eggman interrupted, causing the Mobians' attention to turn back to him. "I'm still here, you know."

"Yeah, why is that?" Sonic asked, folding his arms. "I believe my bro turned you down, Eggman. Do I have to show you the door?"

"I'm not going anywhere without my primary objective" he said with a tone that told the pair that he was serious.

"Tails said no."

It was then that the fox understood, remembering during the moments that he was paying attention while he was mentally debating with himself that the doctor had shown a keen interest in the shards of Time Eater's core. "You were never really after me, were you?

"You were more of an added bonus" he replied with a grin. "I am thankful for your research on the remains, as now I know that with them I can reduce them to infants who are powerless to stop me."

All eyes turned to the shards that were currently on the table. "Both you and me have examined this technology and we barely understand how it works."

"I've used it before and I can do it again."

"You'll have to get past both of us first" Sonic said with a smirk, while Tails clenched his fists.

The human grinned at this statement. "Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if I didn't." As he said that both Mobians heard an engine starting up outside.

"What's that?" the fox asked, a hint of worry in his voice. It didn't help when Sonic turned to face him with his eyes widened. "Sonic?"

The next thing he knew the hedgehog said "sorry" before pushing him to the side. Then a metallic blue blur burst through the wall, ploughed into the hedgehog and sent both of through the next wall and the one after that until they were both on the outside of the house. Although many people wouldn't have been able to see an object travelling that fast Tails could see it clearly.

"Metal Sonic? But why is he here?" he wondered out loud before he saw Eggman take off towards the shards. "No you don't." With that he got behind the doctor and swiped his tails at his feet, causing the human to fall towards the floor. He then quickly grabbed the shards and put them in the safest place he could think of, this namesakes.

"There, now you will have to get through me" he shouted defiantly.

Eggman sighed. "You were so close to picking the decision that would have saved your life, it's too bad that now I will have to cut it short." He after that he ran out of the hole and into his chair that quickly ascended into the air.

"_What's he up too_?" the fox thought as the chair now descended along the cliff face. Knowing Eggman, he would reappear in some machine. Although most of his threats eventually fall through, the human never made an empty threat. However, his heart sunk when he saw which machine he was in.

Coming up into his view was a gold, humanoid machine with two wings lined with rockets. He had a long spear in the robot's right hand and a large shield in the left. Unlike most machines with this shape, Eggman was not in the head by in the chest of the machine. Tails recognised this machine in a heartbeat. This was the Egg Emperor, the last machine that Metal Sonic used when he impersonated his creator and it was struggle to take down when he had Sonic and Knuckles next to him, what chance did he have by himself.

"So you've figured out that this encounter only has one ending" Eggman said from the cockpit, a devilish grin on his face. "Do the smart thing and surrender, it will save me some time and you some pain."

In his mind the Mobian was worrying. "_I can't do this, not by myself. But right now Sonic is facing Metal Sonic, the strongest machine Eggman ever built, and now I'm his equal so I can't afford to do any less. I can't let him get these shards_." His expression lifted. "_Besides, I'm not that little kid who needs to be protected. I've done everything wrong since I became a teenager, it's time I finally did something right_."

"If you would be so kind as to give me those shards and perhaps I will spare you" the doctor suggested.

"No" he replied quietly.

"Pardon?"

"I said no. I'm not giving you these shards and you are not having them" he shouted defiantly. "If you really want to save time then I suggest that you turn around and go back to your base Eggman!"

The human sighed and griped the controls in front of him. "It's such a shame. I really meant what I said about us conquering Mobius together even though you were just a secondary target. It's too bad the hedgehog has corrupted your intelligence." The robot then swung its spear and pointed it at the fox.

"I think your battered body will make a nice base for a robot. I've always considered creating a Metal Tails, but one step further would be to have the real thing. And don't count on Sonic to help; he will have his hands tied with Metal Sonic. And with all the modifications he'd receive, I have to say that he far surpasses any other robot I've ever built." The doctor started to brush his moustache with his hand. "In fact, if he wasn't working with me I'd be afraid of him dismantling my empire..."

* * *

><p>On the other side of the house, Sonic was already breathing heavily heavy while on one knee before his robotic counterpart whose body was surging with a purple aura.<p> 


	13. The Brains and the Brawns

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 13: The Brains and the Brawns**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Metal Sonic floated just above the ground, every circuit in his body relishing the power he was using. He had no idea what it was except that it was ancient and that with this strength, alongside his other abilities, he would finally prove himself superior to Sonic.

The battle hadn't really started; to be honest it felt more like a continuation of the fight they had on the Mobian's way here but he was winning. He had already forced his rival on to one knee but he was already back on his feet. He expected no less from him, if it was too easy it wouldn't be worth fighting him.

So he hadn't prevented Sonic from reaching Tails and persuaded him to not join Eggman, but he didn't care about that. That was Eggman's plan, and even though he had joined up with him he didn't care about the plan. Fighting and defeating his copy was the only reason he lived, always has been and always will be. The only use his creator would be is to keep the fox occupied long enough for him to deal with the hedgehog before he could take out the fox.

He had never shown any interest in Tails in the past, he was just a liability to Sonic in his eyes. Too weak to present a threat to him, the fox always been an easy kidnapping target to push his organic counterpart to fight him but lacked the same satisfaction as doing the same thing to Amy. But something the speedster said in their last fight had caught his attention.

"I know a two tailed fox who's more me than you will ever be" rang through his cybernetic mind. It made no sense and could not hold any logic, but then again Sonic the Hedgehog and logic never belong together and that was the only reason he had triumphed in the past, critical thinking was not the way to defeat him. After all, he the one who was most likely to predict the hedgehog's moves and even he had abandoned that method for hit him with everything he had by seeing what he was most likely to do next. But it annoyed him...

"I didn't know you still had your glowing trick" the Mobian said with a smirk, his confidence and determination unwavering. "From the second Death Egg thing right?"

He didn't respond. "_To be the real Sonic, I have to annihilate the imposter. That I am sure of. So why does he claim that I must do the same to his best friend, the one he refers to as his 'little brother' despite the fact that they were two completely different species. I do not understand..._"

Sonic waved his hand. "Hello, you in there metal me?"

"_I will have time to ponder this problem after while I watch his grave_" the robot decided before he charged his energy and sent a pillar of electricity towards the hedgehog who jumped and bounced on the ground to get enough height to get safely over it. He then performed a homing attack on the machine as the aura faded which connected but as he bounced of him Metal Sonic performed his own homing attack. It was met with a quick punch but was over powered and ploughed straight into him. Sonic hit the floor but quickly got back to his feet to avoid another laser.

"Did you suddenly get better?" the hedgehog asked.

Metal nodded. "The limiter Eggman installed has now been lifted."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Limiter?"

"Eggman put a limiter on my abilities why I was preventing you from reaching this location so that I could not use all of my power."

"Why would he do that?"

"To prevent us from drawing attention to our battle. If I had been using this energy source I acquired in the Lost Labyrinth then it would have escalated our battle, giving the fox a chance to see us and thus causing the mission to fail."

"But it failed anyway, so why are you still here?"

"The plan to obtain the shards and having Tails join us was his idea, I only have one purpose..."

"I know, I know" Sonic quickly interrupted. "Defeat me and become the real Sonic blah, blah, blah. Talk about a one track mind."

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to?"

"Felt like it" he said with a shrug of his shoulders. He then started to run around his metallic counterpart, creating a miniature tornado to form around Metal, who stood his ground and tried to swipe him only to be met with air. "This is for ruining my moment with Tails and putting holes in my home" he shouted before he started to add his own punches and spin dashes as he was running, repeating hitting the robot. This tactic seemed to be working until the machine summoned his purple aura and slammed into the ground, creating a mini tremor which knocked the speedster off his feet for a split second, giving Metal Sonic more than enough time to launch Sonic into part of the workshop's wall that was still standing.

Before he could move the cybernetic hedgehog had gathered the purple energy into a ball and was posed to throw it at him. "You should be more worried about how many holes I will make in you, not your home. Do your best to make this interesting, as I want to remember this moment, the moment where I finally achieve success." He threw the ball at Sonic, hitting him dead on creating an explosion.

"Do not disappoint me, my loathsome copy."

* * *

><p>"Sonic?" Tails worried in the air as he saw the explosion.<p>

"Don't let your guard down Tails" Eggman shouted, causing the fox to look down towards his own opponent who swung his spear, creating a crescent wave of energy to shoot towards him. "Take this!"

The orange Mobian narrowly dodged it before quickly moving to the side to avoid the follow up strikes before the human shot four missiles from the robot's back that homed in on the fox. This gave him an idea. "_It shouldn't be hard to cause the missiles to crash into each other. I'll use the resulting smokescreen to get to Eggman and attack him directly. I need to see how Sonic is doing and it will take too long to destroy the shield first_."

Tails put his plan into motion, quickly flying in circles to get the missiles to follow him before he quickly changed direction, causing two the missiles to miss and come back to get him while the other two changed their course to stay with the fox. Just as it looked like he was ambushed, Tails stopped his namesakes causing him to quickly fall towards the ground. Unable to make the sharp turn the missiles collided into each other creating the smokescreen he desired. Not wasting any time the fox shot in the direction he remembered the Egg Emperor was, curling up in order to perform his own homing attack.

However, instead of hitting the cockpit the mechanic's attack ended up hitting the shield which was covering his target. The robot then swung the shield down, sending the Mobian crashing into the floor. He got onto all fours, rubbing his head as he did.

"Is the best you can come up with?" the doctor taunted earning a scowl from his foe. "Perhaps I overestimated you" he gloated as he swung the spear again. The fox quickly rolled on his side to avoid it before he noticed the robot dash in front of him. "Get ready to be skewered!"

He thrust the spear at the place Tails was before he quickly got onto his feet and jumped backwards. His eyes narrowly as he realised that Eggman had left him an opening. He started to jump and swing his tails hoping to hit the doctor but just as his feet left the ground the spear swung up, hitting Tails with the energy projection at point blank range sending him flying across the clearing and knocking the wind out of him.

"How?" he gasped between breaths. "How could you know what I was going to do?"

"It was simple logic" the human said in his condescending tone. When he saw the confused look on his opponent's face he decided to further his explanation. "You and Sonic claim to be two of a kind, but you and I are as well. We are both geniuses who rely heavily on logic as opposed to more spontaneous people like Sonic. All I had to do was think what the most logical idea was and then think of a way to counter it."

The fox clenched his fist. "That can't be true."

"Oh but it is. Why else do you think Sonic proves to be a consistent problem to my schemes? His moves are chaotic, practically unpredictable. That is why none of my previous machines have failed save one. Metal Sonic is the closest I have ever come to being able to predict and counter the hedgehog, but looking at their battle now it seems even that has failed. You are a different matter, the only threat you process is your brain and that I can easily match and surpass."

"No, I refuse to believe that" he said but even he could deny the doubt that his voice held as he got to his feet. "I can't stop now, what sort of brother would I be if I left my mess for my brother to clean up." He moved over the hole where he could see his best friend clashing with his original rival, as Metal was using his enhanced energy to increase the strength of his spin dash while Sonic was doing his best to counter as many as he could. "_All of the odds are against him but he's not giving up. If I am anything like him, I can't stop trying. Not until the very end_."

His ears pricked as he heard the cutting of air behind him. He jumped to the air to avoid the waved which went along the ground. "That was a cheap shot."

"I'm the bad guy, I don't play by the rules" Eggman retorted before he continued his assaults with more slashes. The Mobian quickly twirled his tails and took the air to evade all of them, putting more distance between him and the doctor.

"_If I remember correctly, if we strayed too far from the Egg Emperor he charged at us with his shield._" Just as Tails' thought finished the robot did exactly as he predicted and began to charge at him. Much to the doctor's surprise the fox mirrored him, charging towards him.

"_What's he up to?_" the human thought but he didn't stop his attack. As they were about to collide the mechanic swerved to the side and went flying past him. "_Ah, a back attack. Too bad for you fox boy that I am once again one step ahead_." He swung the spear expecting to hit his foe but he met with thin air but he thought he saw an orange blur as he swung it which concerned him. As he brought it up to inspect it he saw Tails holding onto the weapon who jumped and swiped his namesakes at the cockpit, causing the robot to recoil while the fox used his flying abilities to get a safe distance from it.

Eggman realised what had happened, he thought the fox had flown past him but instead he had grabbed hold of the spear, waiting for the shield to be lowered so that he could strike. "How'd you like that?" the Mobian bragged with a determined grin and a pumped fist.

"Congratulations, you hit me once while you have been attacked several times by me" the human pointed out. "I'm still winning."

"Not for long" he countered, annoying the mad scientist to the point where he swung the spear vertically in frustration. Tails easily avoided the wave of energy but he remember too late what was behind him, the house! He turned and looked at horror as the attack went straight through his home, destroying everything in its path.

* * *

><p>Sonic had just delivered a kick to Metal Sonic's head and was about to follow up his attack when the energy wave burst through the house right in front him. He looked at the damage, noting that there was now a horizontal line of destruction and several holes in his current abode. "Hey Eggman, some people have to live here afterwards" he shouted. His best friend then came into view on the other side.<p>

"Sorry Sonic, I forgot where about on I was when he launched it. If I had I would have taken it instead..."

He shook his head. "Forget about it, this can be fixed easily if you do it while you would take long to heal if you got hurt."

"You are the one about to get hurt" a metallic voice shouted from his side as the robot doppelganger launched himself at his organic counterpart, knocking him to the floor and trying to slash him with his fingers but the speedster had grabbed his wrists in order to stop the assault.

"I was in the middle of a conversation" he barked at the machine.

"Your mistake" he countered.

* * *

><p>"Sonic!" Tails cried as he saw this and immediately started to head toward the hole in his home but was stopped by another wave of energy which also passed through his home. He glared at Eggman.<p>

"Why worry about him when you should be more concerned about yourself?" he said as he launched a barrage of missiles. The fox took to the air to avoid them.

"_There has to be away to help Sonic but I can't leave Eggman, we'll be easy targets for the both of them_." An idea came to him as he started to descend towards the floor and checked his tails for something, his face lightening up as he found it. He pulled out a gold ring and moved to the thin hole Eggman's first attack had left where he could still see the two hedgehogs in the position he had left them in. "Sonic, here" he shouted as he threw it through the hole.

The speedster knew exactly what it was and used his legs to push Metal Sonic off him and grab it. "Thanks Tails."

His counterpart was already rushing towards him again. "A ring won't save you now!"

Sonic met his charge and thrust the ring into his foe's chest. "No, but a dummy ring bomb meant to stop robots will" he said with a confident grin. Streams of electricity the cover Metal, who found all of his systems unresponsive making him nothing more than a giant doorstop until he could get them back online. "See Metal me, you said I was stronger back during that outburst before but that's not true. I'm always at my best with my friends by my side as nothing beats the true superpower of teamwork. You should know that by now."

He turned to see how his friend was doing through the hole but just as he did he saw the fox slammed into the wall. "Tails!"

Before he could do anything the Egg Emperor swung its spear with Eggman roaring the phrase "Meet your maker!" The wave hit Tails' head and body square on, forcing him through the wall while the attack once again passed through to the other side. Acting quickly he kicked Metal into the attack's path, causing a lot of damage to him as well. As he was doing this Eggman swung spear again, this time slicing the house horizontally split the top half from the house from the bottom half. This caused Tails' workshop to collapse on itself with its owner still inside.

Eggman laughed manically at this turn of events. "Ohohohohoh, you should have taken by offer when you had the chance. Now look where siding with the hedgehog has left you."

Said hedgehog's eyes were so filled up with water that he was having trouble seeing straight. He dashed on top of the pile of debris and started digging through it with his bear. "Tails, Tails! If you can hear me, say something, give me a sign to where you are. Something, anything" he shouted before tears started to roll and his voice turned on him, finding himself speaking quietly although he was trying to shout. "You can't... you can't leave me bro. Not after everything we've been through, not after I'd just got you back... No, you can't... I really can't live without you Tails..."

It was then that he spotted a furry tail in the hole he had created; he could see the shards of Time Eaters' core poking out of it. "Tails?" he asked, his voice heavy with sadness and uncertainty. Know he was close he started shifting the rumble in the direction he knew this friend was in. A minute later he jumped out of the hole with the limb fox's body in his arms.

He shook him. "Tails, wake up." Nothing, if anything his already shallow breathing became even shallower. "Come Tails, get up. If this is a joke it's not funny." After a minute of silence he noted something, his belly wasn't moving anymore. "No, not you Tails. This can't be happening." He hugged the now lifeless body tightly, tears streaming down his face. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Please anyone, do something! Tikal, Chaos, Chip, anybody! Just don't this happen." Nothing did happen. "Tails, I'm sorry. I never should have brought you along. But if I didn't then what would've happened to you? What would've happened to me? I needed a friend just as you did. You gave something I never thought I would ever have, a family. Even if was just two adopted brothers it was just what we wanted right?"

He hastily grabbed the Chaos Emerald out of his quills. "Come on, do something!" he shouted at it. "You are supposed to have unlimited power but if you can't save my best friend, my little brother then what good are you!" He thrust it into the ground next to one of Tails' tails. He the realised what he had said. "Little brother, big brother, semi-twin brother, I don't care! Just come back to me, please..."

"This is where teamwork leads you" a robotic voice said from his side, causing Sonic to look only to find that Metal Sonic was back online but had some sparks emitting from several areas where his hull had been broken. "It only leads to misery and despair."

"He won't have to despair for long" another voice said to his other side. The speedster looked to find the Egg Emperor looming over him. "This is it, the moment I have waited years for" Eggman laughed as he positioned the spear over his nemesis.

"You got the fox" Metal countered. "Sonic is mine, remember?"

Sonic couldn't hear the rest of their argument as he was so absorbed by his thoughts. "_They don't even care. All they care is me. First they take him away from me and now they don't even care! He was their enemy too but is that how they saw him, as my shadow? I'll... make them remember you_." He then shot onto his feet, unknowingly putting his hand on the Chaos Emerald as he did. "I'll make them pay!"

What Sonic didn't notice is that the emerald started glowing, as well as the shards of Time Eater's core.


	14. Righting the Wrongs

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 14: Righting the Wrongs**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

He didn't know what this feeling was. It didn't feel like sadness, more like overwhelming despair mixed with anger, rage even. A rage that had enough power to destroy the world several times over. All Sonic wanted was Tails back but no, they had torn them apart and forced them to say the eternal goodbye.

No, he couldn't be gone, he refused to believe it. There had to be something he could do, he was Sonic the Hedgehog for Chaos' sake. He had brought down an army of robots singlehandedly, he had defeat a legendary God of War, he had stopped the Arc from crashing into earth, he had rewritten history if those dreams he had were an alternate timeline, he had fixed the world when it had been broken, he had destroyed an interstellar amusement park, he had gave two books happy endings. So where was his happy ending, why couldn't he fix his world. He could run at the speed of sound, Chaos energy was his to use, he was considered hero so why couldn't he save the person who mattered the most to him.

This feeling, he had once felt it all of the time. This is what Shadow must have felt after Maria had... gone to where Tails is now. This was hatred and it was consuming him, he could understand why he had wanted revenge. He wanted it to but unlike the Ultimate life form he didn't want to make Mobius pay, just the doctor and his greatest creation that was current on either side of him.

They were arguing over who gets to finish him off before he had interrupted but a part of him was tempted to let them. "_No way_" shot through his head. "_There's no way that I'll do that, not before I make them pay. I know it isn't what Tails would've wanted but what else can I do? He wouldn't have wanted me to break down and do nothing! That's not what I do_!"

Metal Sonic crossed his arms and started taping his foot against the ground; a pose the hedgehog knew had been copied from him. "You are in no position to make threats like that." He then pointed at Eggman. "And you shouldn't break a deal with me."

"I don't know which one of you is sprouting more of hot air" Eggman sighed. "The defective robot or the broken hero. You are no condition to even consider defying me Metal, you may have caught be off guard twice in the past but even if I did give you the opportunity to finish off Sonic I don't think you are capable of pulling it off in your current state."

"That was our arrangement."

The doctor brushed his moustache with his hand. "You of all people should know that I'm a bad man who lies from time to time. Now then, I created you so don't make me un-create you." He paused to make room for smart-mouth remark from the speedster but it didn't come, he just reminded there, unmoving and silent. "Have you finally nothing to say?"

"I always knew you were evil, but not like this. Do you even know what you've done?" he said in an eerily calm voice with a deadly undertone.

"Of course, I've finally got rid of Tails and in honour of his memory I'm going to send his best friend to him."

"You don't even care that he's gone" he shouted, glaring right at the human. It wasn't the usual glare he had gotten from the hedgehog in the past, this one was different, it lacked any form of mercy. He would never admit it but it scared him a little, this silent Sonic who seemed a very different person from the care-free foe he was used to.

"I told him that if he had reconsidered and been part of my empire then none of this would've happened. This is more on your head than mine Sonic."

"Regardless, you still breathe" the robot doppelganger interjected, stepping forward as he did. "That I must change."

"Wait your turn Metal, he's mine" Eggman countered, swinging the spear back in a dramatic fashion.

"You took the most the most precious thing in my life away from me" the speedster said in a quiet voice with his eyes closed. "He was always there when I needed him, but thanks to you my last memory of him is going to be that fight we had." As he was talking the lightening coming from the emerald and shards was once again shooting into Tails, causing his heart to beat once again.

Blue eyes opened again. "_What happened? Last thing I remember I passed Sonic the fake ring then before I could do anything else Eggman hit me with his shield. What happened after that? Did I pass out_?"

"Now you're not even celebrating or anything but treat him like he was nothing" Sonic voice roared around the area, causing the fox to tilt his head to see his brother standing over him, his eyes closed but streaming with tears. Tails had seen Sonic upset before but never like this, he was his rock and seeing him like this was a little distressing for him. He was about to see anything else the hedgehog shouted again.

"He was my world and you ruined it, so now I'm going to end both of you!" Next thing anything knew the speedster had disappeared and a blue wind was rapidly hitting both machines. Everyone present knew better though, Sonic had curled up and using both the spin dash and the Sonic Boost at the same time in order to repeatedly attack Metal Sonic and the Egg Emperor by dashing between the two at unbelievable speeds.

The mechanical hedgehog tried to activate his Black Shield but it failed to form due to their previous battle where he had tried to repel the Sonic Boom, causing to try and block as many strikes as he could with his arms but the holes that were already in on his body became bigger. If he had a heart it would have sunk as he admitted that if this fight kept up there was chance that he would be truly destroyed.

Eggman put the shield out in front of the robot to take the hedgehog's blows but was flabbergasted when it started to get dented and parts started breaking of it. "Impossible" he gasped as the shield eventually broke apart giving Sonic the chance to attack the rest of it. The head and 'wings' where damaged beyond repair and there were a few dents in the spear. The cockpit however was unscathed which was either luck, or judging by the death glare the speedster was sending his way, was intentional.

Sonic was panting, having stopped in front of pile of debris he once called home. He didn't like letting loose like this as it kind of scared him, if he really tried he could do anything physically but he there were limits on what he wanted to do. If he really put his all to a task someone would get hurt and before this he wouldn't have wanted that, not even to Eggman. But now was a different story. His machine was on its last legs and Metal was the other side down for count, it was time.

"Eggman, you sent Tails... away, now I'm going to end this and do the same to you" he hiss, as he walked slowly towards the human.

He panicked. He may have pushed his nemesis too far this time; there was no mercy in his eyes or demeanour. There was a chance that he may not get out of this mess and be in any condition to tell anyone about it. "I'll stop, I'll be good, I'll turn over a new leaf, just don't" he pleaded.

"I've heard that before."

"I mean it this time."

The hedgehog shook his head. "Too little too late."

Realising that he good guy act wouldn't work, the mad man decided that the only tactic left was strength. "Fine, then. Have it your way as usual" he shouted as he swung his lance. Sonic jumped over it and dashed straight towards the doctor, hitting the cockpit straight on. Eggman was about to swung it again but to the surprise of both the human and Mobian, the limp body of Metal Sonic went straight through the spear mid-swing and crashed straight into the doctor.

"What?" Sonic got out. "How did... What did...?"

"Don't worry, I took care it before you did something stupid" a familiar voice said him. He turned around to see the sixteen year old fox he was mourning standing there as if nothing has happened.

* * *

><p>"Eggman, you sent Tails... away, now I'm going to end this and do the same to you!"<p>

"_What's he talking about?_" the mechanic wondered. "_I didn't go anywhere, and what's wrong with Sonic? It's not like him to be like this, so why is going to do something which I know he'll regret. It almost as if he's about to..._" His eyes widened as it clicked inside his head. "_No, I couldn't have. But what if I didn't pass out but actually... Then how am I here now_?" He then decided to get up and tell his brother to stop but it was then a fading blue glow caught his eye. "_The Chaos Emerald Sonic had and the pieces of Time Eater's core, they were just active but I'm still sixteen and I doubt they did nothing. Could they have revived me? But why would they? They wouldn't have had any input at all, unless Sonic gave it some. He can control the chaos energy so could he have used that to set the reaction to bring me back without realising it_."

The fox would have continued his trail of thought but he saw a heavily damage Metal Sonic get up and start heading towards his brother who was so focused on Eggman that he wouldn't have noticed, while the doctor was too busy fearing for his life to pay attention to anything except his attacker. He quickly got to his feet and dashed in front of the damaged robot, blocking his path.

"Impossible, does not compute" Metal said as he saw the fox move. "Your life signs were zero."

"You're a robot who thinks he's a hedgehog who runs at the speed of sound, yeah I'm the impossible one" he replied, clenching his fists as he did.

"A fox with two tails is boarder line impossible in its self." The fox grumbled to himself as he heard that, never liking mention of his second namesake. "Now, move aside fox" he demanded.

Instantly the Mobian shook his head. "No, I won't. You want Sonic, you'll have to get pass me."

Metal struck a fighting pose which look less imposing due to his damage. "According to him, to be the real Sonic I would have to go through you."

"What?" he asked but no answer came, instead the metallic doppelganger started running towards Tails preparing to slash him with his sharp fingers. However, the robot was designed to be able to counter Sonic so was surprised that his attack was blocked by one the fox's namesakes allowing him to strike a blow on the machine.

"I forgot to take into consideration your extra limbs. That will not happen again."

The mechanic glanced behind him to see his brother getting dangerously close to the doctor. "I don't really have for this" he panicked slightly not wanting Sonic to do something that he would regret just for his sake.

Metal Sonic charged again as Eggman swung the spear the first time. "_Now what do I do? If keep fighting Metal Sonic then Sonic will... I'm not worth losing himself over. If only there was a way to do everything like he would_." It was then that a light bulb went off inside his head. "_That's it, I can do it but it's going to take some good timing_." When Metal was about to strike Tails quickly grabbed both the robot's wrists and took off into the air before letting go of him and spin dashing him into the ground. He then quickly grabbed the machine's wrist again and threw him into the air before jumping after him.

He then saw Eggman swing his spear the second time. "_Please let this work_" he wished as the struck Metal Sonic with his tails with all of his might, sending the robot flying through the spear and straight into Eggman surprising both the hedgehog and human.

"What?" Sonic got out. "How did... What did...?"

"Don't worry, I took care it before you did something stupid" he said, getting the hedgehog's attention.

"Tails?" he choked. "I must be losing it already" he said clutching his head with his hands.

"No Sonic, it's really me. I'm fine thanks to the Chaos Emeralds and what remains of Time Eater's core" he explained. Before he knew it the speedster had ran up to him and had him in a tight embrace.

"It really is you little bro. I thought you were... that I would never see you again." The fox's shoulder started to feel damp.

"Sonic, I'm sorry. I got careless and ended up..." he didn't really want to think about it. "I'm sorry I made you worry and almost do... that."

"No, I'm sorry. It was my fault you got hurt, you were helping me but I couldn't save you. What sort of big brother am I?"

"Sonic, you're not my big brother remember. It was my mistake but to be fair it was one I made bro." He then noticed Eggman starting to recover from having his own creation crash into him. "Sonic, Eggman's up."

This only caused to hug to tighten. "I don't really want to let you go, I don't want to lose you ever again." More tears of joy ran down his face.

"Sonic, please stop crying. You're making me start and I'm not too sure as to why you're doing it." This caused the hedgehog to loosen his grip and look at the orange Mobian's face, finding that his eyes were also being to water.

"I'm not too sure either" he replied. "Hey, you're not a zombie who wants to eat my brain are you?"

Tails sighed and shuddered a little of that thought. "No, why would you even think that? Besides even if I was I don't think your brain would satisfy me."

The hedgehog's eyes half closed. "What are trying to say?"

"I think you know."

After a second of silence they both spoke at the same time. "I missed this."

"No, it can't be!" Eggman exclaimed, getting the pair's attention to focus on him. "You were... it doesn't make sense!"

"Now you're not making any sense" the speedster shot back. "I think it's time you call it a day doc."

"I'm not done yet, I can..." he looked at the remains of his once glorious machine, "I can still jab you with this" he declared as he started swinging the broken spear.

"Tails, you can have the honour" Sonic said but the fox shook his head.

"Nah, I think we should both do it together. It'll be like old times."

"Except you'll be joining in more. How'd you want to do it?"

The genius put his hand on his chin. "We only have three tag moves and both Thunder Shoot and Blue Bomber are just me throwing you."

He caught onto what he was saying in heartbeat. "Rolling Attack it is then."

"I'm still here!" the doctor shouted.

"We know, and we're about to change that" Sonic shouted in his usual confident tone, his trademark smirk on his face.

"Yeah, we're busy people" Tails added. "You could have saved us some times by giving up."

Being quoted only made the human fume. "Why you little..."

"Save it for someone who cares" the hedgehog interjected as he started spinning on the spot.

"Good luck find someone who does" the fox said as he jumped into the spin and grabbed the speedster's ankles while his brother did the same to him.

Before he could blink, let alone activate the controls of the Egg Emperor the two Mobian shot and struck the robot causing it to explode as they did. As they uncurled all that was left of their foes was a slightly charred mad man and a beaten machine inside a now wobbly floating chair.

"Curse you" Eggman shouted at the now high fiving duo.

"It's a good thing Tails is okay in the end Eggman, or this would have ended very differently" Sonic said a very serious voice that sent shivers up both genius's spines.

"You should go before I decide that I'm mad at you for trying to end things between me and my family" Tails shouted with a stare.

Realising that this plan had utterly failed, the doctor decided it was time for a retreat. "I won't forget this. I hate that hedgehog and that fox" he shouted as his chair ascended into the sky and out of their sights.

"Thank goodness that's over" the fox said with a sigh of relieve before the hedgehog hugged him again. "Sonic, seriously I'm fine. You're starting to scare me a little."

"Sorry, but have no idea how bad it was to think that you were..." he trailed off, still not liking the thought.

"No, I don't but you shouldn't have risked your views just for me. You taught me that revenge is never right, and even if the worst did happen I wouldn't be happy knowing that I ended changing the most important person in my world."

He sighed. "I know, but I couldn't help myself. I felt... so alone. It was at least a thousand times stronger than what it was back in Green Hill. I felt like I could destroy the world and it still wouldn't be enough to show how I felt."

Tails now returned the hug. "I kinda know how you felt. Remember when Eggman trapped you in that capsule on the ARK which exploded. I thought I'd lost you forever. Or that dream me and the others had when you died."

"Yeah, the one were that human girl kissed me. You were so upset afterwards that you refused to leave me alone the day after." The hedgehog ended the embrace but still kept a hand on his brother's shoulder. "But I promise that nothing will ever come between us again."

"Hey, I was about promise the same thing" he replied with a little bit of a laugh before his face became a neutral one. "There's something I don't understand though. Why did Metal Sonic say that to become the real Sonic he would have to go through me as well?"

"That's easy. You're my bro, of course you're going to be more like me than some robot fake even if he does look like me. So even he did catch me on a bad day and beat me he still wouldn't be Sonic because you'd still be here. And if the worst happened to me I know you'd still keep Mobius safe for me right?"

He nodded slightly. "Yeah, but you would have that much faith in me?"

He winked. "There's no one I would have more faith in." Their eyes then fell towards the ruins of their home. "I'm sorry for the Tornado."

"It's fine" he replied.

"You can build a new Tornado once we're back on our feet right?"

"I mean its fine as in its untouched. The lab has enough reinforcement to withstand a nuclear attack."

"Why didn't you do that for the rest of the house?"

"You were the one who wanted a simple living space. And I think we can fix all of this now" he declared, earning him a confused look from the blue Mobian.

"Really? How? Not that I'm complaining."

The fox dashed to the middle of the rumble where the Chaos Emerald and the shards of Time Eater's core were and brought them to the hedgehog. "We'll use these to fix the house like you fixed me."

"Yeah, but I did that by accident. I'm overjoyed it happened but I don't know if it can happen again."

"Sure you can. All you need to do is manipulate the Chaos energy in the emerald to tell the shards to rewind the workshop back to how it was before it was destroyed."

"Oh, that simple" he said with a roll of his eyes. "And how do you think I do that?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I'm not the one who can use Chaos energy here. How do you use Chaos Control?"

"I just tap into the emerald's power and think about the place I want to be, the clearer the picture that closer I am." His eyes widened a little. "Oh, I think I know now. I wanted you back and you came back, so I have to think about the house like it was and it'll come back."

"Okay then. Good luck Sonic" his brother encouraged.

"Thanks, I may need it" he replied before his expression turned serious and he closed his eyes, focusing all the mental energy he had on the task at hand.

Tails waited on baited breath. He trust the hedgehog to the ends of the earth but thinking was not his strongest point, he valued instinct more than logical thought whereas he was exact opposite but he had some good instincts so by that logic Sonic must have some good thoughts. His logic seemed to pay off as the blue lightening reappeared and struck the ruins of their home which started to rebuild itself.

When Sonic opened his eyes he found himself standing in front of his home. "It worked."

"I knew you could do it" the fox congratulated him as they both went into the house to see if everything was there. From their inspection it seemed like it was. "Everything's back as if nothing ever happened. Even the food Eggman had is back in fridge."

"Eggman had some of our food? He'd eat us out of house and home. What were you doing with him anyway?"

The mechanic grabbed one of his namesakes and started playing with end of it, a sign that he was nervous. "I was having him look at my scheme" he said quickly and in one breath. He started to blush a little, it was a little embarrassing to talk about the plan he had to the person he had been planning to use it on.

He looked to find the hedgehog smirking. "Your scheme, huh? Well let's hear what master plan you came up with, it can't be worse that some of the ones Eggman has used over the years."

He hesitated for a second before answering. "Bear in mind that at the time I was mad at you for running my life for me." The hedgehog nodded. "I was going to make you eight to see how you like it."

"So if you were evil, your master plan would be to make me basically swap places with you?" He nodded bashfully. "Do you think that help us understand each other more if we did?"

"Well, probably but I'm better now. I can think clearly again." He then noticed Sonic strike the same pose as what he did when he repaired the house. "What're you doing?"

"I'm making myself eight."

"You were serious? Why would you do that?"

"Did you not hear the conversation we just had?" He just glared at the speedster. "Look, I don't want us to end so if there's any way we can stop that from happening then I'm doing it."

"But you like being a teen. You said you like the freedom that you never got as a child" he exclaimed.

"I know, but I'm doing it for us Tails."

The Chaos Emerald and the shards started to glow as Sonic closed his eyes. Just as the lightening was about to appear the hedgehog found himself swept off his feet and on the floor. "Ow, what the...?" As he opened his eyes he saw the blue lightening striking Tails, who now had the emerald and shards in his hands. "What are you doing bro?"

"I'm becoming your little bro again" he said with a smile on his face.

"Why? What about all that stuff about being your own person and not living under me? Don't you want that?"

"Of course I want that, but what's the point of independence if I have no one to be independent from?"

It would have made no sense to anybody else and it took a second to get what he was saying but the blue Mobian understood. "But you can have that now. If you apologise then everybody will forgive you."

"I know, but you were going to throw away your ideal life just to make me happy. But as your little brother I can't let you do that. You were doing anything you could to keep our friendship as strong as it was right? Well, I'm doing the same. You've had more experience at being a teenager and I've already been the big brother, you can keep that job." He started to lose consciousness. "It doesn't really matter what age we are as long we're together, right?" With that he passed out and started falling towards the floor, de-aging as he did.

The speedster quickly got to his feet and caught the now limb fox in a hug. He then looked down to see the eight year old kit he knew and loved asleep against him. He sighed. "What am I going to do with you, huh?" He then picked him up bridal style.

"Yeah, you're right. It really doesn't matter. But if you're younger then it's a lot easier to carry you to your room. A lot easier than last time" he said mostly to himself as he climbed up the stairs.


	15. Together Forever

**Equal Footing**

**Chapter 15: Together Forever**

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.

Tails groggily woke up with a headache and some confusion as to how he got into his room. "_What happened?_" he thought before another thought came into his head. "_Déjà vu, haven't I already done this?_" Then it all came back to him, he had been sixteen which had caused him to almost ruin his relationship with Sonic and at the very least hurt his relationship with his closest friends. But then he had made up with the hedgehog and had stopped his attempt to make himself eight.

He then noticed that the room did look larger than it did the last time he in this situation, but it was kind of comforting to feel that again. He then looked over the side of the bed and found that his shoes were also smaller than he remember them. Taking a deep breath he threw off the covers only to find that his body was smaller and a lighter shade of orange that when he had last looked at it. Putting his shoes on he walked slowly towards the mirror but closed his eyes when he reached it, he was slightly afraid at what he might see.

"_Please let me recognise me_" he mentally prayed before he partially opened one eye. Looking back at him in the mirror was a very familiar eight year old fox kit. "I'm me again" he said, finding himself smiling at the sound of his usual higher pitched voice. Making sure that this wasn't all some dream he had created to make himself feel better he pinched himself, only to find that except for a slight pain on his arm everything was the same.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and a second later the door opened, with Sonic standing in the doorway. "Hey, how're you feeling?" he asked with a smile on his face and a hand behind his back. He was surprised when the kit then tackled him in a big hug that almost knocked him over. But instantly returned it. "You okay?"

"I'm great, better than what I have been in a while" he replied. "You're not mad about me knocking you over are you?"

He shook his head. "Of course not, I saw it as payback for when I pushed you out of Metal Sonic's way." He broke the hug and got onto one knee so that they were on eye level with each other. "Are you sure that you're okay being eight again?"

The kit nodded. "Yeah, it's the age I'm supposed to be. Plus I think that if I remained a teenager all that arguing would still happen so it's better if I'm like this, and when I'm actually sixteen everyone will know what person I will be so they will be used to it. I'll be used to my way of thinking then as well." A little smirk appeared on his face. "Be honest Sonic, you wanted me to stay like this didn't you?"

The sighed with his own expression mirroring his brother's. "You got me. A part of me did but all that really matters is being with you."

"Are you still afraid of losing me as we grow older?"

"Nah, I know now that even if we don't really need each other we'll still be a big part of each other's lives. That's never going to change. I got you a little something."

"Is it a chilli dog?" he asked. "I can smell chilli."

He looked away as he stood upright. "It was, but then you were out for longer than expected and I got hungry so..." He trailed off but Tails knew exactly what had happened.

"You ate it, didn't you?" The hedgehog nodded. "Sonic, didn't you think I would be hungry too?"

"Of course, so I broke out one of my stashes of your favourite" he said, moving the hand he had kept behind his back to reveal a packet of sweets that make genius' mouth water.

"Mint candy!" he exclaimed as snatched it from Sonic's hand at a speed that the speedster could identify with. "Thanks Sonic, you're the best" he said before he started to eat them.

"I try, I try."

It only took a few minutes before all of the candy was gone, although he occasionally offered some to the older Mobian he always declined and took to lying on the fox's bed, his hands behind his head. Said fox joined him afterwards, assuming the same position.

"So everything is really okay between us?" Tails asked again.

"Yes Tails, we're fine, maybe even better than before" he replied. "What's really up bro?"

He sighed. "Do you think that everybody else will forgive me and become my friends again?" he enquired, looking down at his shoes as he did.

"Of course they will, I did and I was the one you were mad at" he reassured the younger Mobian, sliding his arm around him as he did.

"But you're my brother; you kinda have to forgive me."

"Believe me, I really didn't." He noticed the kit's mood did not change. "Look, Shadow has been through a lot worse than this and he actually helped me make up my mind so he's easy."

"I was more worried about everybody else" he interjected, finally deciding to look at the hedgehog.

"Knuckles was worried too, well for Knuckles but he did suggest that you would be a better person if I stayed away."

"That was him?" He frowned a little. "I'll have a word with him later."

"Well, he actually likes you so you'll be fine." Tails sighed and looked down again. "It's Cream you're really worried about, isn't it?" the speedster asked despite already knowing the answer.

He nodded. "What if she hates me? The only thing worse than that is you hating me" he cried out, hugging his brother again t this thought.

Sonic tighten his grip on the fox. "I don't think Cream hates anyone, especially someone who she cares about so much. Sure, I heard that she was upset but just apologise and make things right and you'll be back to having your secret crush on her returned."

The mechanic's face turned red in an instant and he bolted upright. "Sonic! I... I only like Cream the same way you like Amy" he shot back after figuring his comeback.

He only smirked. "Sure you do." Then something came back to the hedgehog which caused his eyes to widen, his body to bolt upright and then put his head in his hand. "Oh crud!"

"What? What is it?"

He turned around slowly to face Tails. "I forgot to tell Amy I was going."

* * *

><p>He could feel the ground move as she marched towards the door, Amy Rose was not a happy hedgehog. Sonic barely had time to gulp before she swung her front door open, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.<p>

"Nice of you to drop by Sonic" she said with a harsh undertone. She looked at the corridor to find that the blue hedgehog was the only person in the corridor. "Go somewhere nice? I heard the sonic boom as you went."

"Amy, I can explain..." he started. Eggman's robots had nothing on the pink Mobian when it came to intimidation.

"After everything I did for, give you a place to stay, try to comfort you and this is how you repay me" she shouted. "I expected you to come back here after your talk with Shadow."

"I know, I'm really sorry about that. I would've but I had to take care of something important that couldn't wait" the male Mobian defended.

Amy just crossed her arms. "What was so important and so urgent that you couldn't even come and tell me that you were going?"

"He was fixing things with me " a familiar voice said from around the corner, surprising her. Out stepped Tails, back to how he normally was.

"Tails! You're back to normal" she exclaimed. Her face lit up for a second before it became one of anger again. "Do you know how upset Cream is?" she shouted.

The fox flinched at this before his expression, face and tails drooped. "I know and I feel horrible about it. I'm sorry and even though I wasn't thinking straight or being myself, that's no excuse for snapping like that."

"Actually that is a pretty good excuse" his big brother voiced before stepping between the two younger Mobians. "Listen, he wasn't in his right mind and I would know. He was thinking of making me eight."

"You were the one willing to go through with it before I stepped in and regressed instead."

Amy than put her hands on her hips and glared at Sonic. "You were going to make yourself younger? What about our relationship? It would be odd to have a child as my boyfriend."

"What relationship? Our only bond is really good friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yet" she added before she turned to Tails. "Listen, I understand what you went through but Cream doesn't so I'm not mad..." She was cut off by the other hedgehog.

"Could've fooled me."

"You want me to get the hammer out."

The smirk instantly fell from the speedster's face. "I'll be quiet."

"Good" she said before continuing. "What I was about to say before I was interrupted is that I'm not mad but I am mad for Cream." Her hammer then appeared in her hands, causing the two male Mobians to panic a little and stand closer together. "If you two dare repeat these mistakes again you will be spending some quality time with my hammer, understand?"

"Yes Amy" they both said at the same time. Then Sonic stepped forward towards the girl hedgehog.

"Listen Amy, I can't thank you enough for helping me through last night. I don't know what I would do without you."

The hammer disappeared and blush appeared on Amy's face. "You're welcome Sonic."

"Let me make it up to you for running off like that and to say thanks by taking you out sometime."

Her heart raced and her expression instantly became one of unparallel joy. "Yes of course. How about you pick me up at seven tonight? Twinkle Park is having its cute couples go free promotion again."

He raised his thumb. "It's a date."

"I know" she said in dreamy voice.

"I knew you liked her" Tails said in his matter-of fact tone.

"No I don't" he countered.

"I'm pretty sure you do after this."

"See Sonic, I've always know that we were meant to be. The tarot cards never lie" Amy said after attaching herself to the older Mobian's arm.

"Traitor, you're supposed to help me not make things worse" he growled.

"It must be something I got from my big bro" the kit replied.

"Yeah? Well I hope you were taking notes as now it's your turn to set things right with your lady friend."

The fox's expression fell. "Yeah..."

"It's okay, I'll be with the whole time" the blue hedgehog reassured him.

"I'll go to" the pink hedgehog said as well. "Cream's like the little sister I never had so if there is anything I can do to help cheer her up I will. Plus I know how sorry you are Tails."

"Thanks guys."

* * *

><p>Tails took a deep breath before knocking on the brown door of the cottage where Cream and Cheese lived with Cream's mom Cheese and the re-programmed robot Gemerl. He was nervous about this, even if he did have his best friend and one of his closest friends by his sides.<p>

Sonic must have seen as he put his hand on the fox's shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"I don't know..."

"It will be" Amy replied. "You know that Cream isn't one to hold a grudge."

The door was then opened by what looked like an older version of Cream. Like the younger rabbit she had brown eyes and cream fur, alongside some brown hair between her ears. Her ears were around the same size as Cream's. She wore a long dress which was mostly a light purple with a white rim. Over the top she wore a crimson waistcoat over the top of it and had matching heeled shoes that could be seen under the dress. Over the waist was a little orange scarf called an ascot. The three Mobians instantly recognised Cream's mother Vanilla.

"Oh hello dears" she said in her usual nice tone before she saw Tails in the middle. "Hello Tails" she said in a similar tone but one which had a serious undertone. The fox felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Hello Miss Vanilla" they all said at the same time, although the fox's reply was more mumbled than the hedgehogs.

"Is Cream feeling any better?" Amy asked.

The older Mobian shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Not after what he said." Tails looked crest fallen at that. Although she was normally just as caring as her daughter but if you upset Cream she could be quite cold towards you in the same way Amy was scary, a subtle but still easy to tell. Sonic had put it down to a girl thing a while ago.

"Go easy on him Miss Vanilla" Sonic defended his little brother, putting his arm round him as he did. "He wasn't really himself when he shouted at her. Too be fair, she was just defending me, the one he was really mad at."

"Cream did say that he was older" the rabbit spoke. "But I don't know if seeing you while make her feel better."

"Tails just wants to make things right" Amy interjected.

"We've both been through enough heartache for today" the speedster added. "I almost lost my bro because of what happened, but now all is forgiven and can't be forgotten soon enough."

"I really am sorry" the mechanic finally gathered up the courage to say. "I just want to tell her I'm sorry. If you don't want me around afterwards I wouldn't blame you, I wouldn't want to be around me after that either."

The mother rabbit just smiled at this. "I can see that you truly mean that. You can come in and see her, she's in the living room."

They all thanked her but as Sonic passed she put a hand on his shoulder. "Tails has a good role model."

He sighed a little. "There's better."

"Maybe Sonic," the female hedgehog said, "but it wouldn't be the one he wanted. Plus if you ask me, he couldn't have chosen a better person to model himself on."

"You would."

"Nothing but the best it seems."

Tails was just entering the living room by the time the others had caught up. "Oh! Amy, Mister Sonic, you're here. "Mister Tails, you're back to normal."

That stung the fox's heart. Before she called him Mister as he was older but now he knew it was a sign of distrust. He was about to say something but before he could Cheese suddenly came flying at him, an angry expression on his face. Just as the chao was about to ram into his face a hand caught him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Chao chao chao chao."

The hand was Sonic's, who reactions had allowed him to block the attack easily. "Hey, my man has something he wants to say." He then gave Cheese to Amy.

"This is the best way for Cream to be happy again" she reassured the still fuming chao who stayed silent he knew better than to protest against the one who saved his owner and the one who was always by his owner's side. He cared about Cream a lot and was willing to do anything to keep her safe and happy so when Tails, someone who she really cared about snap at her like that the chao was seething. But if the fox had gone back to being like he was then Amy was right, it was the best way to get over this nightmare.

Tails gulped hard. Everyone's attention was on him and it was making him nervous. Sonic had made his apology to Amy look so easy and that had slightly annoyed him. He had taken it completely in his stride and with a little help from him had turned it around, even asking the female hedgehog on a date (although he called it making it up to her but Tails thought not even he was convinced by that). But he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and making things worse, which was basically the only thing he did yesterday. He glanced at his big brother who shot him a sympathetic smile and a look which said 'you'll be fine'.

"Mr. Tails?" Cream asked after the extended period of silence.

"_Thanks Sonic_" he thought, feeling his confidence return to him before speaking out loud. "Just Tails." He took the rabbit's hands. "Listen Cream, I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I'm a really awful teenager; it really messed up my thoughts and caused me to ruin the things that were really important to me, being with my friends and family. I know that's no excuse for what I did but if you give me a chance to show just how sorry I am..."

"I forgive you Tails" she said, cutting him off.

He was stunned by this. "You do?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I know that it couldn't really be you staying all of those mean things but you are back to normal now so everything can go back to how they were."

"But I still feel bad, I hurt you..."

"I've got it" Amy cried out, getting her the attention of the other Mobians. "Sonic, how about our date becomes a double date with Tails and Cream?"

The two younger Mobians turned red instantly and bashfully looked away from each other. Sonic voiced that it wasn't a date while Vanilla just stood up and took both the pink hedgehog and rabbit into the kitchen while only saying "please excuse us" to the boys before closing the kitchen door quite forcefully.

As soon as they were in the kitchen Tails started to panic, rushing up to Sonic with his fists tightly clenched. "A date? I can't go on a date. Why would Amy think about that?"

"Because if you two got together then in her romantic mind that would increase of odds of us getting together" the speedster deadpanned. "Still, I never thought she would come out and say it, especially in front of Miss Vanilla. I don't want to know how it's going in there."

"Sonic, I can't go on a date with Cream..." he said while blushing. "I wouldn't know what to do... what to say. I mean wouldn't we need to... hold hands and... stuff..."

He could help but laugh at his little bro's flustered reaction. He put his arm around him. "Tails don't get so worked up. Even if Miss Vanilla agreed, and I don't see that happening, you would be fine. It's just like hanging out, in fact calling it a date wouldn't even be right."

"Yeah, I guess you're right" he said, calming down. "Thanks Sonic. How do you stay so calm?"

"Experience?" he said with shrug of his shoulders before he grinned. "You know if you got this worked up it means you like her."

He face turned red again. "Sonic..."

Before he could say his retort the girls came back out, Vanilla looking less angry than before while Cream was cradling Cheese in her arms while Amy had her hands behind her back and a guilty smile on her face. "So..." the speedster started.

"Maybe I got a little carried away with the double date thing" she said meekly. "We're still on though right?"

He nodded. "It was my idea."

"Tails" Cream said. "Would you mind going to Twinkle Park with me?" she asked, squeezing her chao friend for support who hugged her back.

For the first time in his live, Miles Prower couldn't think. "You... you... Really?"

"It would be nice to spend some time with you to see if you're okay. That's what friends do."

"Yeah, friends" he replied nervously as he grabbed one of his namesakes.

"How about six?" Sonic asked as he got Tails and started ushering him towards the door. After they nodded he quickly zipped out, saying that they'll see them later with the fox in tow. He didn't stop until the house was out of sight.

"Thanks Sonic, I froze" Tails thanked his older brother.

"It's what we do" he did with a snigger.

"That's not funny."

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you."

"I don't remember laughing."

"You were on the inside."

He crossed his arms. "Oh well. Might as well head back so I can make Shadow his mock-free brooding pass" and with that he set off.

This confused the genius. "What?"

"Simple. To show Shads how thankful I am I'm gonna give him a pass to stop me from mocking him when he broods in the future."

He could already see the black hedgehog Chaos Blasting it. "You do know that he won't like that."

"It's nice for me." Tails had to nod at this. "What about Knuckles?"

"Well, I'm sure he didn't mean to tell you to stay away from me but I'm going to have a few words with him."

"Gotta see that" he said with a grin.

"You get first row seats" the two-tailed Mobian replied, mirroring his brother's expression. He then felt Sonic cup his arm around his neck and returned it with a hug. "Guess I've still got a lot to learn before I really become sixteen."

"Well we have some time, and I have no intention of letting you do it by yourself."

He looked up directly into the hedgehog's eyes. "Are you sure you're not afraid I'll leave you when I'm older?"

He shook his head. "Nah. In fact I'm looking forward 'til you can give me an actual race."

Tails frowned at this for a second before sighing and accepting the truth. "Together forever?" he asked.

Sonic nodded. "No matter how far apart we are."

The same thought passed though their heads and they knew it but it didn't have to be said. "_I like the sound of that_."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well here's the conclusion, I hope it was better than Bg Brother's. I'll finish adding sense to that story before starting anything else so don't worry. Also I've gone back and corrected most of the mistakes in previous chapters but forgive me if there are still some.<strong>

**Thanks for reading and hope to see you next time. Please review. **


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